Zwischenspiel
by adrenalynn1986
Summary: Ok a summery... While shooting a movie, the two leading roles have to face some difficulties in their working relationship/friendship.
1. Chapter 1

**So, the summery is not exactly brilliant. But if you have gone that far, I guess somehow I caught your attention.**

 **At first a big THANK YOU to my Beta ;) You did a great job here and I really appreciate your comments.**

 **And second...well I don't actually have a second...so, as I said: Have Fun.**

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 _Chapter 1_

 **Lauren's POV**

A soft breeze was caressing her wet skin through the open door that separated the bathroom of the main room. Small goosebumps covert her body every now and then. The water was running down her aching back. A miracle of hot steam. A massage for her neck and the tightly wound points all the way along her spine.

Her head was leaning against the cold wall of the shower, eyes shut. She tried to let her mind catch up the phrases she had been reading for the last three and a half hours. Her lips were moving slightly with every word that was flying through her mind, imagining the scenery to step into the world the writer might have intended to create. Therefore she produced the feelings she needed to get between the lines to slide into the character she wanted to breathe life into.

This had become a habit of hers. After a long and stressful day she would simply step into this intimate and yet so mundane bubble of blessedness.

It all began on a cold day in early spring about 22 years ago. Ten year old Lauren and her mother had just found out that her father was used to have an overly obsessive relationship with his secretary in a more than work related way. Maybe that had been the place where her trust issue had stemmed from.

Her mother had cried a lot and the rather boisterous arguments her parents had gotten into in their bedroom, had been too much for the young adolescent to take sometimes.

So she had created her own place of peace and quiet. A place she had built up to perfection through the years. Losing herself in a fantasy world, where she would be a queen or rebel, fighting on horseback or dancing in the moonlight.

 _Knock knock_

Blonde hair, dripping wet, stuck on her shoulders. A welcoming calmness fluting through the splashes of water against the shower base, singing a song of its own.

Back then she loved to sing along. Forming a symphony out of muffled trickle against the cast iron and soft melodic hums dancing through almost closed lips . No screaming voices nor slamming doors had access into her head to destroy this transformation from world of horror into wonderland. Even if it had only been for a little while.

Her parents had tried to work through the pain of cheating for a little more than six months but one day it had been too much for her mother to bear anymore. Lauren and her mother had moved to her grandmother's in the neighboring city. It was a small two and a half room apartment and the couch had been her night camp for a few months until her mother found a new job and rent an apartment for the two of them.

A small rivulet of foam bored its way down her upper body over her toned legs to converge on a place around her ankles before it drained down through an already rusty plughole. The intoxicating ensemble of the odor of argan oil, shea- and cacao butter was filling the small bathroom supporting the relaxing silence.

 _Knock knock knock_

'What the-?'

Laurens' eyes shot open. Who would dare to ruin this after work bliss? To ruin her anchor, her way out of the real world to reconnect with her inner peace? One quick look at the small radio affixed under a- let's call it antique- mirror closet on the right side of the shower was telling her the early hours of the new day.

 _Two AM._

Maybe it was an emergency. While running one hand through the strands clinging to her chest to adjust her hair back over her shoulders, the other was wrapping her soaked form into a small towel that made a terrible job to hide the important spots of her body. Lauren stepped out of the shower base in a hurry.

"Gimme a sec,"

"Hey Lauren, I really need to... oh my god you're naked!"

The door burst open to reveal a highly flustered brunette in a fluffy yellow wardrobe with little butterflies on it. Trying to hide her assets, Lauren rearranged the now wet piece of cotton. Crossing her legs in the process and slightly bending forward that the unfortunate surrogate of clothing might actually conceal something. The brunette stood, doorknob in hand, staring at the crooked blond in front of her, mouth agape.

"I'm sorry, but isn't this the part where you would apologize and turn around or something?... and Bo, either you come in or you go away but in any case shut the damn door."

Wide eyed Bo stumbled forward, almost falling to the floor loosing one of her flip flops while the door smashed into the frame behind her. While still facing the blonde, who jumped at the sudden chaos and almost lost the ends of the only cover in hands, Bo came to a halt in the middle of the small motel room.

"Oh my god, I think I saw a nipple."

With that the brunette was hiding her eyes behind her left hand and turned on her heels. Lauren didn't get what she was mumbling. She wasn't shy about her body but seeing her coworker at this late hour in an outfit that was screaming of teenage- slumber- party while Lauren was standing in her, well, lack of woven fabric, was a different kind of situation. Were those Spongebob boxer-shorts?

"Stay like this and don't, I repeat _don't_ turn around. I'll find something more... appropriate to wear than... this shred."

Searching in her oversea bag next to the left side of a small bed still covered in papers and the rest of her dinner, Lauren found a black shirt and her light blue sleeping shorts. Her damp hair immediately created an abstract painting of wetness along her shoulders. The carpet, which laid in the tiny room, had now dark footprints next to undefinable multicolored blotches that had already been burned in the fiber years ago. Her inner voice was screaming about the carelessness to step out of the shower without anything to avoid athlete's foot or other disgusting evils.

As soon as she arrived in her motel room two weeks ago, she had disinfected all surfaces and made the bed with her own sheets.

 _'I knew I should have dry cleaned this carpet.'_

Leaving the room to wash her feet again, she slipped into her flip flops still waiting for her in rank and file near the shower base. When Lauren returned into the main chamber Bo was still standing in the same position the blonde had left her. Long curly hair was hanging loose fixed with a single clasp at the right side of her head. Her left foot was missing the security of footwear. Lauren wrinkled her nose and moved to the door. While passing the stature in the middle of the room she could hear Bo whispering something she couldn't make out. After opening the door she bent down for the abandoned flip flop on the doormat.

The night was clear and the stars were sparkling brightly each of them aching to tell their story to anyone who would listen. At nights like this the blonde had loved to wander around, looking up into the pictures of great battles and unfulfilled dreams of love and desire. The night air tickled her drying skin.

It had been a hot day for spring, almost 28°C and the sun had been burning, leaving light red marks on her cheekbones and nose. The now cooled air sent a sudden chill through her bones and left her shivering. She went back into the shelter of the warmth of her motel room shutting out the darkened beauty on the other side.

Prey in hand she walked right up in front of the frozen sculpture of flesh and bones, holding out the item.

"You know, if you behaved like this in the first place, it wouldn't have been that awkward afterwards."

Bo hitched, letting her hand fall beside her body. Looking up she tried hard to avoid eye contact with the woman she had found half naked earlier.

"I am so incredibly sorry. I just heard you say something and I couldn't make out what exactly. Just thought it sounded like 'come in' and so I opened the door and, well, you know the rest."

Finally settling her gaze on Lauren she smiled, apologetic. She took her shoe and slipped it back on.

"Yeah... Unfortunately I do. It's okay though. We will see each other naked anyway, so... it was some kind of general rehearsal. But I think you should work on your poker face until then."

Bo frowned skeptically as Lauren moved to the edge of the bed and putting the sheets of paper away to sit down, briefly expressing for the brunette to do the same. Both sitting on one leg facing each other.

"Excuse me, what was that about us seeing each other naked?"

Lauren could sense a slight wave of discomfort in her coworkers voice.

This was Laurens' first TV production. A smaller movie for local television, but nonetheless it was one of the two leading roles. She got some smaller ones on stage at the theater, but this was her first try for something more public. She had gone to read for the role as Ira. A young internist and the best in her department, who got kidnapped by some underground organization called 'The Dark' to treat an unknown disease their leader 'The Morrigan' suffered of, she had never believed in actually getting the job.

That day she had met Bo Dennis. Bo had been reading for the role of Rogue. The right hand of 'The Morrigan' and the protector of the captive. She had gotten a few smaller roles in some TV productions and this wasn't as unfamiliar as it had been for Lauren that day.

Both women got along perfectly right from the start. Lauren had felt this connection and had been hoping for the opportunity to work with Bo. Lauren liked being around the brunette. She was an inspiration to work harder, be better.

"You did read the script didn't you?"

Lauren lent back around the brunette, stretching awkwardly to find the pages she left on her pillow to reread them after this warm massaging water steam that was pelting down like some kind of meditation to her tensed muscles. Her shirt rucked up her abdomen, exposing the soft skin around her navel. Preoccupied with searching the scrip she wanted Bo to see, Lauren had to lean even more forward and brushed against the brunettes' knee with her now revealed front.

Smooth blonde locks of her warm stomach touching freshly shaved cold skin. The second their bodies met both women jerked and the blonde stilled her movement to look back, feeling a sudden rush of electricity. She could hear a hissing sound coming from the woman next to her. When her gaze wondered up Bos' bare leg, her childish boxer-shorts and a yellow tank top Lauren saw chocolate brown orbs fixed on the point where her belly was pressed against the brunettes knee. Suddenly Bo sat up straight, hands on her upper legs fingers clutching against the flesh tightly, holding her breath and staring at the wall on the other side of the room.

Lauren swallowed hard and shook her head to refocus on the task at hand. Holding the sheets of paper in her hand she sat back up and slit at the end of the bed farthest to Bo. What was going on? Where did all the tension come from? In the past two weeks the two women shared a uncomplicated, easy and amicable working relationship. Everything seemed quite comfortable.

They made up their own working schedule. First thing in the morning they would meet either in Bos' or her motel room for a light breakfast from the coffee shop right across the street. They had gone through the scene that would have been shot that day and helped each other with productive criticism of their acting. Even while shooting, there had never been a moment of discomfort. They had laughed together or gossiped about the odd way Sid the camera guy ate those curd cheese turnover. It felt like more than just work, like some kind of friendship.

Lauren had never been an easy one to socialize with. Always sitting on the substitutes' bench watching the game others played and never once having the chance to get herself on the playground.

She had only had one good friend back in high school but they had drifted more and more apart after graduating. They had sworn to keep in touch, but over the years it had been lessened. Lauren was sad for quite some time, but her studies and her dreams caught all of her attention.

As a kid she had loved to perform for her family. Some were even self made sketches, too. Sometimes on Christmas or other feast days she rehearsed a stage play at church. Not because she was very religious but because her family hadn't had enough money for the amateur theater course at the local community collage . After the divorce, her father had gone to -at that time pregnant adulteress- to build a new family and had forgotten all about Lauren and his former wife.

But she couldn't care less. Her mother had taught Lauren to fight for what she desired. She had worked hard for her dreams. One day she had promised herself to become an actress. So she got herself busy.

Now here she was. In the middle of shooting a movie that will be seen on TV. Her dream was coming true. In a few days she would be 32 and she could call herself an actress. Though the fee wasn't that much, but it was enough to make a living. Maybe this would be her steppingstone.

Lauren was good at what she was did. Never lost track or forgot the next line. Some of her colleagues called her 'one shot wonder'. She had some kind of photographic memory. Once she was done reading she could almost quote a whole page without reviewing it before. That had been one part why she had never really had to learn for school. Her IQ had also been tested when she was in middle school and without surprise, she wasn't dumb at all, actually she was some kind of genius.

She had been lucky to get a full scholarship, otherwise she would have never gone to college to go to a course of theater studies and English literature.

There was this one student in the same lecture she attended. He was a nice guy, quite a nerd himself, but he was kind and he could understand Lauren because he was as much peculiar as she was. One day she had found herself lying in his bed with him grunting over her. It wasn't what she thought it would be. No stars nor fireworks. But they stayed together the whole college time. Anytime they got intimate, she had an awkward feeling in her stomach. Where were those emotions she read all about in those old stage plays? Where was the so called passion or desire? Where was this love she was supposed to feel? Shouldn't she feel at least happiness to have that someone she could spend time with and talk to? Or feel sort of normal, now that she had someone by her side? Didn't everyone do exactly the same? Did they feel all those things?

So, when they went separate ways, she wasn't sad, rather relieved.

Now, Lauren reflected on the past days. Thought of the possibilities why the brunette in front of her could be so tensed up all of a sudden. Where was the funny and blithely woman she had met back then?

Bo acted kind of uncharacteristically. Lauren frowned. She could see the startled expression of the brunette.

Waving the papers in front of Bos' nose, the brunette backed off just a bit, but enough for Lauren to recognize.

"Yeah, well, here it is."

Taking the sheets, Bos' eyes wandered over the lines, some of the words mirroring on her lips. A few minutes pasted by and the blonde grew more and more impatient.

"So?"

Bo released the pages and placed them on the floor next to her feet. Urgh, that floor. Lauren fought the urge to pick the sheet of paper back up. She made a mental note to burn it after tipping it off on her laptop.

"Yeah, uhm... I didn't get that far. That scene isn't going to get shot in about at least another week. You know, there are some people out there who have to actually learn their lines?"

Lauren blinked several times. As the brunette locked eyes with her, Lauren shrugged mouth agape, not knowing what to respond to that comment. She felt a sting in her guts. Bos' voice held a bit of sarcasm Lauren hadn't heard so far and in a way it hurt.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"Ok."

"No really..."

Bo breathed out heavily, adjusting her sitting position to face the blonde. She reached out as if to touch Laurens' hand on the mattress but decided otherwise and fumbled at the dip of her yellow sleeping shirt.

"Why are you here Bo? It's late... or early... and I really need to get some sleep."

Lauren was no longer in the mood for small talk or to figure out what she could have done. She wanted Bo to leave her alone. She wanted to go back into that hot shower and to forget about what had just happened. Bo must have felt Laurens' distress. Shifting uneasily, she tried to catch the blondes eyes again, which were now fixed on the clock on the nightstand.

 _Two fifteen AM._

"Ok, listen, Lauren?... Would you look at me, please?"

Lauren turned slowly with a sigh, missing her secret place more than ever. The night could have ended so differently. She made up a list in her mind, of all the things she could have done, if she had only decided to ignore the knock on the door.

"Thank you. I'm sorry, ok? It wasn't my intention to interrupt you. I know how important it is for you to follow your rituals. I do. And I... I couldn't sleep. Actually, I did sleep, for a while... But I had a dream that just wouldn't leave me. So I thought about going for a walk. I saw the lights still on in your room and I was hoping that maybe you weren't asleep yet... And you obviously aren't."

The brunette was rumbling. And a nervous chuckle escaped her. Another uncharacteristic anomaly and so unlike the Bo Dennis Lauren had gotten to know this past few weeks.

Her gaze dropped somewhere in between her monologue. Lauren got alarmed. She hadn't seen her coworker like that ever. It was always easy talking to one another. She was one of those kind who always knew a brilliant respond to an impolite command of some random guy trying to get laid or how to light up a rather volatile topic in such a charming way Lauren had never known before.

"Ok, Bo, you got me scared enough. What is it? Is something wrong? Did anything happen after the shoot today? Was it Masimo again? I told him, he should leave you alone, if he wanted to raise a family one day."

"No. No nothing like that."

They fell silent again. There had to be a reason why the brunette acted that way. They had never visited one another after supper. Never ever.

"Did I do anything to upset you?"

Bos' eyes shot up meeting Laurens searching stare. _Bulls-eye._

"No. You didn't do anything wrong!"

Lauren let out a small angry laugh and got up. Standing now in the middle of the small room, facing Bo with curiosity.

"Well, your reaction says different. As an actress of your caliber you could have performed better, Bo. We don't know each other very well and so I have to tell you that I was born and raised by a woman who attached utmost importance to honesty and straightforwardness. So, shoot it cowgirl!"

It was hard to tell what the actress in front of Lauren was thinking. It got Lauren even more angry. Her gaze dropped to the floor as she inhaled deeply. When their eyes met again, Bos' expression was blank. Chocolate brown eyes, which held so much warmth and benignity, were now blunt and without their usual sparkle.

"You know? I guess it was a mistake for me to come over. I think I should go and maybe we can talk another time, okay? We're both tired and tomorrow is going to be a hard work. And I think I should reread my lines anyways, so, thank you for your hospitality."

Lauren swallowed hard, her anger would be reaching boiling point within the next milliseconds. Her eyes could have burned holes in Bo's head if she had some kind of laser vision. Bo broke the intense stare down and headed to the front door. When she tried to open the barrier that blocked her way out of this misery and into the quiet, cool night Lauren rushed to stand behind her pushing the door back in its lock with a loud bang.

Bo jumped and turned around to find herself, face to face with the blonde. Lauren clenched her jaw and her challenging posture invading the brunette's personal space. Bo was trying to move away but Laurens other hand was darting out making that impossible, both hands now on the door of either side of Bos face. She was trapped. Lauren fixed her co-worker's gaze with a determined look. Those usually whiskey brown orbs turned almost pitch black with a mix of emotions about to erupt but kept firmly inside. The blonde could feel Bo's short and hot breath on her lips. The Actress' voice was low and remained dangerously calm.

"Now, you listen. You knock at my door in the middle of the night, making me look like a fool, all wet and with only this unbelievably tiny piece of cloth in my hand to cover up. The possibility of catching some kind of fungus at my feet increased up to 70% because I have forgotten to slip into my beach slippers. And the only thing you can come up with is ' _thank_ _you for your hospitality'_ after offending my intelligence with some incredibly implausible excuse of being tired? You've got to be kidding me, Bo. If you have anything to say, just do so!"

Lauren could see that the brunette was holding her breath. Bos' eyes flickered over her face. Lauren held a constant stare on those eyes, trying to make out what they wanted to say when their owner wouldn't. She had always been good in reading people. That came with the package of being a misfit she guessed. There had been plenty of time and space to observe and study the habits or idiosyncrasy of the human being in its natural environment. In some ways it had been entertaining, like some soap opera but in real life. Humans could be so amusing.

"I, uh..."

Bo was searching for the right words to say, Lauren could sense. The wall of anger she had built up was cracking and formed a path through the stones for a far stronger emotion. The one Lauren desperately tried to bury deep inside her. Disappointment.

How could she'd been wrong? Maybe Bo was a far better actress than she had thought. Always on stage, playing not only the role of Rogue the predator and protector but Bo the friend of strange and crazy Lauren.

"You know, maybe you're right. Maybe you should leave now."

Lauren dropped her gaze to the doorknob stepping back to release her former prisoner.

"You know I just thought, we... we were some kind of friends. But I guess I am just plain stupid."

'Great Lauren, well done. You had to force her into talking. Why can't you just let things go? Now, how are you supposed to work with her without feeling awkward? _God!'_

Lost in her own train of thoughts Lauren rolled her eyes and mentally slapped herself, hard, several times. She turned the knob and opened the door. When she felt back pressure, the knob slipped out of her grip. This time it was Bo who held the door closed.

"Lauren, but we are."

Suddenly she felt a warm and gentle hand on her right cheek. She forced herself to look up and met the most intense gaze she ever stared into. Bos' thumb stroke her cheekbone.

"We _are_ friends Lauren."

Laurens' eyes went glassy. She let out a small laughter of irritation.

"Bo, I really am no specialist in terms of relationships in any universe but I believe that being friends means being in a position to talk to one another, being honest."

Bos' hand released her cheek and left her skin aching for the warmth it had provided. Their eyes still locked.

"Yeah, but what if the things someone has to say, might ruin everything they have built?"

"You know? I believe that to keep something hidden is worse. Somehow it'll come up and maybe then it'll be too late."

Lauren watched Bo intensely. What was it, that Bo thought would destroy their friendship? Lauren had never been in a situation like this. To feel the urge to fight for another person so that they would stay in her life. It had been easy to turn around and live her life like she was used to. Return to her acting and observations from afar. It wasn't that bad. At least it wasn't until she met a certain brunette who had turned her world upside down. Made her want to crawl out of her snail shell. Made her want to meet up for a simple small talk and have some coffee or tea. Made her see that there was more than the little bubble she called life.

"Bo... Just tell me. You are important to me even after this short amount of time and I really want to work things out."

They were still staring at each other. Lauren tried to crack a smile but probably it looked like a snoot. She was nervous. There was something in Bos' gaze she couldn't quite label but she could feel it. Feel it all over her body. An intensity that course through her veins to settle down in her heart. She felt warmth and acceptance and something else she hadn't experienced before.

Neither of them knew how they happened to stand that close all of a sudden. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, leaning in until their noses brushed and their breath became one. The temperature of the room must have elevated some how, because Lauren felt hot. Really hot. When she made out a ghost of a touch of lips on her lips, she closed her eyes. Her fingertips traveled their way up the brunettes upper arm, over her shoulder to linger ever so slightly on her cheek. Bos' hand came up to her chest and took a grip on her shirt pulling her more firmly into her, bodies touching on full length. Their lips brushing against each other gently in a slow and comforting way. Lauren pressed Bos' back carefully against the the cold wooden fabric. The moment Bo's back touched the door their shared intimacy got more urgent. Lauren felt Bos' hands roaming up and down her sides only to rest on her waist in a tight embrace. One hand in thick brown hair holding the woman in place Lauren deepened the kiss, exploring each others taste.

 _'Kiss? Wait.'_

Pushing herself off of the brunette, Lauren stepped away to get some distance. Bo obviously needed some time to process before she opened her eyes to look with an expression burdened with guilt. The blonde turned around not able to hold the brunette's gaze.

When she found the strength to face the other woman again, she had already left with the door wide opened.

Her finger slid over her lips, swollen and still a bit of the sweet nectar of Bo left.

" _Dammit!"_

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 **What do you think? Feel free to leave a note.**


	2. Chapter 2

**So the second chapter is up.  
Yeah I know it took me some time, but... haste makes waste. Or Rome wasn't bulit in a day etc.  
Whatsoever, hope you like it and a THANK YOU to EmCelle. ;)**  
 **Thank you all for your support. For the reviews and followers. I really really love to hear (read) what all of you think.**

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Chapter 2

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 **Bo's POV**

A small pebble stone clenched between the big toe of her left foot and the leather strap of her flip flop, pushing uncomfortably into the soft flesh. It was at least the third time she had to stop, trying to shake it off. What was it about stones and sandals? Maybe it was all about Karma. Her grandpa used to say; _'Kid, when there is poo on your shoe, then there is poo on your shoe.'_

She should have gone to her room, try to get some rest, but she found her way down the small gravel path to an old weeping willow. Its long, thin branches were covered with dark green leafage, sweeping wide. A broad, right-angled tree bole soared up about one meter above a bed of freshly grown green grass. The midday sun was hidden behind some cirrostratus clouds but she could feel the warming touch of sunbeams on her face. A light breeze twined with the white and light pink petals of a nearby cherry tree breathing its sweet scent around her nose to fill her nostrils. She took a deep soothing breath almost forgetting that little stone, which wouldn't leave the place it was embedded in. Feeling the pressure and an ongoing burn where her flesh was about to scratch open, she reached down frustrated to pull off her left flip flop. While standing on her right foot balancing her weight, she took the little intruder between her forefinger and thumb.

"Ha!"

The crew was on lunch break for the next hour. They went to grab something to eat at the cafeteria but Bo decided to take some alone time.

Clear her head and maybe, with some luck, get some shut eye.

The events of last night had left her sleepless. Her mind was filled up with all kinds of rubbish, spinning and turning, jumping up and down to come up with nothing but more clutter.

One step forward, her bare foot hovered above the flexible tips of the densely planted grass, tickling her sole. In this moment she tried to concentrate on the comforting contact of the soft blades against her skin with her eyes closed she could make out the faint brushing sound. She tried to focus all of her senses on this simple act.

The back and forth of her foot.

The light touch of the cool grass.

The tingle against her flesh.

Her breathing became even and steady. The scent of spring in the air surrounded her olfactory center to replace the annoying smell of one of her co-workers aftershave with a combination of freshly cut grass, drying soil and blossoming of vegetation.

Lost in the sensation Bo was yanked out of her blissful moment with the sudden start of an engine reving up. Looking around she saw a gardener with his lawnmower.

"Yeah, definitely Karma."

With a sigh she put her flip flop back in place and walked the path back up to her room. The small motel complex came into view. The four two floored buildings where the crew resided a bit outside the city, were old. The once white colored front was now studded with dark green and black smear where rain water had run down the wall. The reception was located a few foot steps down the road. The letters of the big light sign blinked with a sense of rhythm like a grasshopper on speed. She was grateful that she got a room on the second floor at the other side of the complex near the idyllic weeping willow.

Although she kept the window ajar most of the time the tiny shoe-box of a room still held its musty aroma. She tried to overlay the scent with several room sprays and aromatic candles without much effort. Closing the door Bo shut the curtains. Her room was one of the larger ones and she was thankful for the extra space. A small sofa was set up opposite her double bed, covered with laundry she was supposed to have done yesterday. She had forgotten all about the dirty clothes after studying her coming scenes.

She was still wearing her character's outfit. Tight black leather pants, an even tighter dark red leather corset with a thin and slightly transparent black blouse underneath. She couldn't believe that there was anybody out there who would actually be wearing something like that. It was a science of its own to even pull it on not to mention the act of taking it off. Also leather wasn't a fabric one could call _breathable_.

She thanked what ever greater power there was for a less heated day. The previous week had gotten her sweating without even moving much. She had had to consult the make-up pros at least three times for one scene. Now she knew why she was getting the money she received. Hard work. _Really_ hard work. Thankfully she could take off those leather boots right there at the set.

Her long brown hair was up in a ponytail with a strand of hair flipped back on top lightly teased and a braid on either side of her head. The make-up was heavy around her eyes, highlighting her features perfectly. She felt good with it. Sexy and bold.

When her manager, Nathan, told her about the movie and the leading roles, she had laughed at him. The former characters she embodied had been either the little housekeeping wife or the everybody's darling at high school kind of roles.

Rogue was described as tough, sexy, strong, dark and, that was the hardest part, she had been fully trained in close combat skills.

She loved the thought of a new challenge. It had been some time since she tried something out of her comfort zone, to free herself from the fetters the media had been tied her up in. Bo was delighted to prove the world, and most of all herself, that she could be what ever she wanted to be and that this ' _nice girl next-door image'_ was worn out. When Nathan had arranged every thing for the audition and Bo had gotten a positive answer to her request, she started to get her body in shape. She wasn't nonathletic. Back in high school she had been a ballerina. Her balance and body tension had been her pet fad. So it was all about getting the muscles back to the surface and learning the basic moves of close combat.

A friend of a friend knew someone who trained Mixed Marshall Arts.

Her first lesson had been ' _pain isn't real, it's what your mind creates to make you weak'._ And boy, it had felt damn real. But Jegor Wladislaw, her trainer who stood 1,95m high, had that look. The eyes of the giant Russian muscle-bound hunk of a trainer, held a mix of madness, pleasure and authority every time the brunettes' arms had gotten too weak to keep the pace after thirty minutes of punch, punch, duck. Or when her legs refused to hold up her weight after the next thirty minutes of high kick, low kick, knee up.

Some days she had had this strange feeling of deja vu, as if she had seen all of this before. On days like these it occurred that instead of Jegor she called him Mr. Miyagi. It had slipped out without further noticed by the brunette until one evening Jegor had thrown an old piece of cloth and a bottle of polish next to her feet and greeted her with _'Wax on, right hand. Wax off, left hand, Danielle-san'_ pointing at his muscle car behind. Also if she had gotten to slow in kicking or punching he would call out _'Teacher say, student do. Banzai!'_

They got along amazingly well. Jegor had a great sense of humor and he never declined a good bet. Bo knew about his Achilles' heel so when she challenged him, the brunette was sure that the bald-headed man wouldn't refuse. Bo had bet that she was still able to do the toe-dance. Her trainer knew about her ballet history. He had joked about it every time Bo couldn't get back up on her feet. But he also knew that the toe-dance was some hard piece of work, so he accepted the bet.

The wager had been if Bo couldn't stay in toe-dance for 60 seconds, she would drink a glass of Kumys. Kumys was made of fermented milk of a mare and could be sour, prickly, even refreshing and left a taste of almond after swallowing. But if the former ballerina didn't fail, Jegor would wear one of this tiny light rose tulle dresses in the bar around the corner they used to go after training for a beer.

That day Bo had gotten herself a bleeding toe, but Jegor had lost his tutu virginity.

The radio alarm clock blinked the time. She had to get back in 45 minutes. Enough time for some power napping. Fumbling with the zipper of her pants she cursed under her breath. After some struggling and fighting the foe was almost down to her ankle when there was a knock on her door. Surprised she straightened up and lost her balance. With a loud bang she plopped on the floor, face first.

 _Prima-ballerina my ass._

"Ouch!"

Another knock filled the now silent room. Bo rubbed her forehead. Could this day get any worse?

"Bo? You okay?"

The brunette's head shot up.

"Lauren? Uh... yeah... yeah.. just... give me a second...uh..."

Bo sat up and dragged on the fabric until she freed herself with a triumphantl pop.

She hadn't talked to Lauren the whole morning. Thankfully they had to shoot different scenes at different times of the morning and had only gotten to see each other a handful of times and there had at least been one other member of the crew right next to them. It felt awkward. Every single moment Bo looked in this pleading whiskey brown eyes in front of her, she didn't know what to say. Also the brunette had missed their morning ritual together, but honestly, wild horses couldn't have dragged her there today. She knew that she had to face the blonde at some point but than later rather than sooner had sounded good to her.

What now? She was trapped again. This time she couldn't pretend that Masimo, one of the writers, had called out for her or that she had heard the signal to go back for the shooting. Lauren had tried to get Bo into talking, but She wasn't ready to explain herself just yet.

With one last intake of breath she stood up, grabbed her sleeping shorts from under her blanket, slipped them on and opened the door.

"Lauren, hey. What.. uh... What are you doing here? I thought you are with the others to get lunch."

The woman in front of her was fumbling with a brown paper bag.

"Yes, I was... uhm... you're in your Spongebob shorts again, I see?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with them? It's Spongebob. Every body loves Spongebob, so why wouldn't I wear..."

Lauren held her hand up.

"No. What I meant... What I'm trying to say... Have you been asleep? Did I wake you? It's just... I haven't seen you at lunch and you wouldn't talk to me all day... So I brought you some food...Well, maybe you're hungry and I just want to make sure you keep your strength and... Bo, Are you avoiding me?"

Bo swallowed hard.

She didn't get all the words Lauren was shooting like a machine gun. Her eyes were fixed on those rose colored, soft and slightly wet lips. The whole night, those lips were the only things that popped in her mind at an almost regular basis. Well, when she wasn't thinking about Lauren's hand in her hair and the smell of her shampoo.

Bo tried to get rid of these pictures and feelings that started to consume her whole body. The blood in her veins had been running hot and fast through her system. Leaving her sweaty and longing. All kinds of experience she had buried deep inside and had long been forgotten, had resurfaced and made loose her focus.

She had done it once and had failed big time. A broken heart, a half demolished car and an almost previous conviction because of willful damage of property was all she had received.

Realization hit when she saw the abrupt stop of movement of the pair of lips she stared on.

"Um, Come again?"

Lauren's left hand left the brown bag it was holding in a firm grip, almost ripping to pieces and ran through her thick golden waves. Bo could see that the woman on her doorstep was as nervous as she was. The guilt she felt last night was making its way back up from her underbelly to her chest and held her in a tied uncomfortable embrace. The blonde was shifting from one foot to the other. She was still in her character's outfit, the one Bo liked to see her in the most. A light gray jeans, fitting like a second skin, a white V-neck shirt with a good view on her assets and a pink cardigan left open.

"Are you avoiding me, Bo?"

The brunette looked at the ground at Lauren's feet. Just like Bo, she had changed into her flip flops. That was their thing. The first week they had joked about their flip flop fetish and Bo had to smile at the thought of that.

"What's so funny about that?"

Bo shot up.

"No, sorry... nothing it's just your shoes. I changed into my sandals, too, as soon as the break bell rang."

They shared a light chuckle. Bo stepped back and opened her door a bit wider for her co-worker to get in. Lauren passed the brunette and a decent mixture of scent that was so uniquely Lauren surrounded her. Bo shook her head twice and closed the door.

"Oh you're a plucky girl today, I see."

Lauren smiled at Bo and pointed at the leather pants that she left in a huddle on the floor next to her bed.

"You know one can hear your curses through the whole set for about five to ten minutes while you're trying to get into those?"

Bo walked up in front of the pants bending down to grab them.

"Yeah, I was thinking about living on the limit today."

When their eyes met Lauren nodded with a smirk. The brunette couldn't keep herself from smiling. Suddenly the blonde held the brown paper bag, almost in Bos' face.

"Oh, here. I got you lunch. A coke, no sugar and a salad, yogurt dressing . I know you eat light on the midday break."

"Thanks."

Taking the bag from her Bo sat down on the bed placing the pants on her left side and the bag on her lap to get the coke. That's what she liked most about the blonde, once said or seen she wouldn't forget about the little things.

Their very first day at the set Bo lamented about her room and the smell she couldn't get rid of and because of that she was forced to sleep with an open door and window, but felt a wave of paranoia, so there had been no sleep at all. On the next morning she had found the first aromatic candle on her doorstep. A lavender scented one, her favorite. Bo didn't even know she had told Lauren about it, but in the small letter it was placed on, Lauren wrote that she mentioned her adoration of lavender on the first day they met, at the audition. She remembered about her telling Lauren, that she always had a little lavender sac in her closet, it made her cloths always smell freshly laundered.

But right know it was Laurens' photographic memory that would break her neck and she would need a good excuse for what happened last night. Or why she reacted the way she did.

"You're not going to answer my question, are you?"

Lauren played with her left flip flop by flexing and relaxing her toes so that the sandal plopped against her sole. Bo had seen this a lot, every time when the blonde seemed concentrated or tense. An awkward silence hung heavily between them. Out of the corner of the brunette's eye she saw the blonde move back to the door. She wanted to say something, anything, but she honestly didn't know how or what for that matter. Bo was waiting for the soft click of the lock you heard when the knob was turned, when it didn't come, she looked in the direction where her co-worker was still standing. The blonde was staring at her hands again, facing the door.

"I really am sorry for what happened last night. I don't know what has gotten in to me."

Bo sighed.

"Lauren..."

"No. I don't know why I've been so angry. I shouldn't take my anger out on you. And I'm sorry, about... what happened afterwards."

Bo stood up and slid between the blonde and the door. She saw the woman's lightly red colored face. The last thing she wanted was to make Lauren feel responsible for the brunette's reaction this morning. Her co-worker tried her best to make it up to Bo.

"Lauren, there's nothing you have to apologize for. You know, maybe we could just pretend last night never happened. Get back to being friends who laugh about that garbage disposer of a camera guy and rehearse scenes in the morning with some coffee and baked goods? Things have really been bleak the past few years and I don't know what I would do without... your friendship. "

Bo and Lauren didn't know much about each other's lives before working together. There was never the occasion to talk about heavy topics. They shared a connection of silent understanding and the brunette felt lighter, more cherished in the other woman's presence than with anybody else before. Well, she did have a rather large circle of friends back home, but most of them crawled out of the dirt after her first TV success. The brunette knew a lot of those so called friends bathed themselves in her light as long as it was glowing.

Her family was a pack of vagabonds. A drearier bunch of carnies always on the move. So her mother decided to leave her in Toronto as a little one to stay with her grandpa and his significant other. Trick was the only member of the family who managed his life outside the circus arena. After meeting Isabeau he had longed for a normal life. He had grown tired of the traveling, the warmhearted man once answered short to Bos' marathon of questions about his past.

He owned a bar in the north of the city and Bo must have been the worlds youngest waitress. At the age of six she learned to serve dinner, how to clean up after herself and how to rinse the tableware in the industrial dishwasher. She loved to help her grandfather after school, but he was rather strict. Bo had to work hard at school and wasn't allowed to stay downstairs at the bar after seven PM. Trick offered her a normal life. Growing up in the same city with a steady day schedule of school, homework, free time.

His life partner and Trick had been a perfect compensation of the loss of parents. Isabeau was the housekeeping not-wife and her grandfather ran business. He always tucked her in at night and read her favorite tales. She grew up with myths and sagas of the fae world. When she was a kid it had been all about fairies and unicorns, later on the up-growing brunette studied all about Banshee, Succubus or Fauns. The niece of Lachlan her grandfathers co-owner, had been and still was her best friend. Kenzie and Bo used to skype every night since the shooting of the movie started down in Truro, Cornwall, England.

Her dark brown orbs were searching Lauren's face for an answer to her request. She could tell from the hesitant rolling of those whiskey colored eyes to the ceiling, that the blonde made up an invisible pro and con list. That was a fact she shared with Bo the day they met at the motel where all crew members got to choose their rooms. Lauren told her about the list she would create in her mind's eye. At that time she had to decide if the room at the end of the first building or the room opposite had been the right choice to make.

Bo took her hand in hers, to get her friends attention back into their conversation. They locked eyes.

"Well, if that's what you want, then... okay."

There was a hint of disappointment in Laurens' voice mixed with relief at the same time.

They shared a brief moment of silence. When Bo spoke up it was more like a whisper.

"Are you sure you're okay with that? Forgetting last night?"

Lauren smiled ever so lightly and squeezed her hand before she let go. Nodding at the clock on the nightstand she opened the front door.

"You should eat Bo. We have to get back in twenty. Oh and... maybe you should wear those shorts instead of the leather... I think Spongebob suits Rogues' rational way of thinking."

Brushing past the smiling brunette's right shoulder Lauren was about to walk away when the blondes phone went off. After a rustling sound the phone was still ringing. When Bo turned around she found a frozen woman staring at the display where three thick letters blinked on and off.

"You should answer when Mum is calling, don't you think?"

Lauren swallowed hard and forced a small smile while nodding.

"H-Hello, Mum."

The brunette could make out a female voice talking at high speed. Lauren tried to lean a bit forward and turned her back to Bo whispering into her phone, but the brunette could hear her anyway.

"Yes, mum... no.. n-..no. Yes, I'm sorry. I...Muuum... Yes I know what day it is... yes but... mum I'm working... yeah... I'm busy... that's because I'm on lunch break right now... no.. mum please... no. They won't... because... mum, listen, they won't give me a day off because of my birthday...no don't come...NO! MUM! MUM?... _shit_ "

Lauren placed the phone back into her back pocket.

"Did I just hear birthday?"

Bo could see Lauren flinch. Yet again the blonde's face turned red when she looked back at the brunette.

"Uhm... No?"

"Ah, come on Lauren. I heard what you said! Don't be embarrassed."

"I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"Fine. Fine! There is this date once every year for about almost 32 years. And it occurred that on this _speeeecial_ day, I was born. Yippie yey, woohoo."

Bo watched Lauren pacing in front of her, hands in the air every now and then.

"You don't like birthdays?"

Lauren stopped and looked straight into the brunettes eyes.

"I do. But I don't like mine. Not one single year that I can remember of, there wasn't a birthday of mine where the kids in school wouldn't make fun out of me, because I had to wear this little birthday-hats. Oh and highlight was, my mum. She brought me to school, kissed me in front of my classmates with big red colored lips, leaving several marks on my face and while placing the muffins or cake on the front desk, she would sing happy birthday. Alone. Loudly."

Bo had to bite her cheek to not burst out laughing. She could tell Lauren wasn't in the mood for jokes right now.

"That sounds horrible."

"It was! Totally. I mean, it hasn't been like this all the time. My mum changed after the divorce. Don't get me wrong, I love her, I do... but..."

Lauren looked down and started the flip flopping again.

"Family can be hard to stand sometimes. I know. You must have seen one of the famous Dennis family reunions. Uncle Jeff would throw his swords to get the best part of the meat while my cousin Martha would sing the Hungarian national hymn and my great aunt would jump onto the large dining table ignoring the screaming and shouting to get the fuck off their dishes, doing the riverdance. Beat that Lewis!"

Lauren burst out in a fit of laughter.

"Ok... we'll see which scenario is worst 'cause, my mum will be here to celebrate. _'Just like old times'_ she said. And why would he throw swords, anyways?"

Bo smiled at the blonde.

"Don't ask. So, when will that be?"

"Friday."

Bo looked surprised.

"What like, this Friday?"

Lauren nodded slowly.

"Like in three days Friday? Why didn't you tell me?"

The sound of a steady plop filled the room again.

"It's not important. Just a day. Like every other day. I don't celebrate."

Bo took Laurens' hand in hers.

"Well, it looks like this year, we have to come up with a new tradition."

* * *

 **Review if you feel like it ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey there. Yes, I know it took quite some time to get this story updated . What can I say? Sorry and all that ;)**

 **I hope you're still out there reading this and I wanted to thank you for all the followers, favoritesereses (what?) and of course the reviews and PM's. Thanks a lot. Don't stop! Tell me what you think. The good, the bad.**

 **A special thanks again to my Beta EmCelle! You should check out her stories, if you haven't done it yet! So here we go.**

* * *

Chapter 3

 **Lauren's POV**

Darkness had forced the last sunbeams to surrender their fight against the upcoming gloom a few hours ago. Somewhere afar, a screech owl was calling out into the night. The song of mating season, eagerly performing the courtship display.

The moon tried desperately to edge the heavy rain-filled cloud aside which blocked its dim shine to enlighten the blackness surrounding the sleepy world underneath the wakening panoply of the stars in the sky.

All scenes there were to work on for the day had been shot about an hour ago. Like at every end of the day, the crew got together to reflect the outcome and to discuss what went right or whether they had to change anything to do better for the next takes. Some kind of awkwardness had still been felt between the two actresses after their talk at midday break, but at least Bo hadn't avoided her and they had shared a laugh here and there.

Lauren and Bo had been walking the gravel path up to Bo's room remaining silent. The only sound to be heard was their shallow breathing both too afraid to come up with the wrong topic. The blonde could feel her co-worker's gaze on her every now and then. She herself caught a glimpse of the beauty walking next to her when she had been sure that Bo wouldn't notice. After a second of uneasiness, unsure about the right etiquette for this kind of situation they had said their goodbyes for the night without their usual hug.

With a shake of her head and a roll of her cognac brown eyes the blonde had left her co-worker's front door and headed to her chamber which was located in the same building as Bo's but on the end of the path, last door of the building right next to the broom room.

When she closed the door it had been almost one o'clock in the morning. She lit up a handfull of candles placed on several spots in the small and rather cold motel room. Lauren had grabbed one of the large pillows of her bed and had placed it in front of the small commode opposite the door on the ground covered with a towel. Making sure not to touch the carpet with her bare skin she had been sitting there for a bit more than ten minutes.

Her feet hovered a few centimeter above the mottled floor. Three little brown bottles were placed accurately next to her. A candle was standing in front of her in some kind of steel frame. Above its flame in a small bowl not bigger than the palm of a hand an oily substance was boiling up. Shifting slightly Lauren reached out for the first bottle. When she opened the cap a spicy scent filled her nostrils. Breathing in deeply she closed her eyes.

"Tulip-wood. Having the effect to ease nerves, and to banish ones fears."

She whispered like a mantra. When she opened up her eyes, she dibbled a bit of its content into the oily liquid. After that she replaced the bottle next to the others. The blonde took the next flask removing the its fastening and inhaled its scent once again.

"Mmmmh. Bergamot, to work off stress and exhaustion."

Another few drops found their way into the small bowl. Now she took hold on the last brown bottle.

"Last but not least. Lavender, to cater for balance of body and soul."

The aroma filled the air as soon as it left the rim of the flasks and fully unfolded an orchestra of fragrances in the musky room after the substances intermingled in the oily liquid. Lauren sat back, adjusting her position to get into a relaxed posture, concentrating on the scent that was spreading around her.

When she was little her grandmother had taught her how to get the tension of the day off of her shoulders and to forget about the bad emotions.

It had been her first birthday after her parents broke up. Her mothers behavior had changed drastically. Her usual calmness and that adorable shyness had disappeared and revealed a woman who dressed like a vamp and spoke as loud as possible for everybody to hear whatever she had to say and with a laugh that sounded put on.

Lauren had been ill at ease due to her mother's actions and was searching comfort in the arms of her grandmother. She had been a kind woman, always had a friendly ear for her granddaughter's problems and thoughts until one day in late summer she died seven years ago.

It had been that day Lauren had mentioned earlier while talking in Bo's room. The day when her mother had brought the big guns out for the first time. Lauren's thirteenth birthday. A birthday that was some kind of special to most of the kids in her school.

So when Rose was about to drop her daughter off at school, she was wearing a tight colorful dress with lots of cleavage and her make up reminded Lauren of a clown. It had been embarrassing when Rose had insisted to escort the birthday girl to her first class. Lauren wanted to crawl inside her rather large dark blue pullover to hide until hell had frozen over.

When the bell declared the end of the school day and Lauren could head back home, the big red lipstick marks where her mother had kissed her in front of all her classmates were still visible but smeared all over her cheeks at the try to get rid of them. Waterproof. _Freaking waterproof._

She loved and respected her mother. But on days like these, it was really hard to respect the decisions she was making in her post-married life.

The temperature in Lauren's small, normally stuffy room increased to a less freezing level thanks to the warmth the candles emitted. After an emotionally and physically exhausting day the blonde's body felt stiff as if she had been running a marathon in record time.

The pillow she sat on wasn't as comfortable as it looked like but she had to take what she could get. She would take care of her hardened muscles right after collecting the roaming thoughts inside her head.

For now, the red and yellow flame got her undivided attention, dancing to the sound of the draught coming from where the door left a small slot to the floor. Brown orbs observed the sparkling shine of light. She evened and deepened her breathing. Inhaling through her nose, exhaling through her mouth. After several soothing breaths Lauren closed her eyes. She could feel her pulse rate slowing down and her blood pressure lessen.

The aroma scented air filled her nostril with every intake of breath and she imagined consuming the energy of the candlelight with the intention of steaming out all her fears and sorrows while exhaling the used stream of air again.

Her mind turned into a white and bright place of peaceful silence. All of her bad impressions of the day vanished and left nothing but comfortable emptiness. It was a blessing to sooth the waves of the monsoon of thoughts her brain was used to accommodate.

Like the first blank page of paper in a new notebook.

Like washing off old dirt and sweat under cold water.

Like the sound of the ocean near a crowded beach while one's head was under the surface shielding off the permanent noises.

Once she perceived a thought, she could let them fly away as fast as they had come up.

In the back of her mind she made out a blurred image. She felt the relaxed features of her face miming a frown. Another deep breath, hoping to get back that soundless room in her head, instead cleared the picture even more.

She could recognize the silhouette of a female form walking up to her. With every step her face got more detailed. Long dark curly hair framed deep brown eyes and a smile that was formed out of full, luscious, pink lips. There was a familiarity ensuing from the slim form. As if a fine fog lifted, the woman's face came into view.

Bo.

Lauren's eyes shot open. Great, now she was thinking of the brunette while meditation. All of a sudden a train of thoughts was overrunning her new found inner peace.

Fragments of their conversation of today and last night popped up.

 _Things have really been bleak the past few years and I don't know what I would do without... your friendship._

 _Are you sure you're okay with that? Forgetting last night?_

 _Yeah, but what if the things someone has to say, might ruin everything they have built?_

What did that even mean? What had Bo really wanted to say? Forgetting what they were talking about? Or forgetting the best kiss she might ever have experienced? Why had she felt those things she had felt that night? And why in hell was it so freaking hard to get her co-worker out of her mind?

The moment was gone. Meditation wouldn't attain the end the blonde had in view. Blowing out the candle she stood up, searched for her night shirt and shorts, heading into the bathroom. Tomorrow would be a new day to start over.

* * *

T minus thirty and a few hours. It was Thursday.

The last time Lauren checked her watch it had been around ten AM. The altitude of the sun let her gather that it must have been almost noon by now.

Last night she had called her mother to talk her out of the visit but no chance. Rose was living in London with her new boy-toy for the last three years and hadn't seen her daughter in awhile. Lauren stayed in Toronto. The city she was born and loved. So her mother wasn't going to waste the opportunity to visit Lauren in Truro, which was only a few hundred kilometers drive away from the apartment her mother lived in.

"Lauren I googled the tour. It will take about three and a bit hours to get to you. Honey, that is far less than to fly all the way to Toronto."

"Did you just say, you googled the tour?"

"Yeah, Brain taught me how to use the internet. And not only for the research of some routes to travel, if you know what I mean."

"Gosh, Mum. Please."

"What? Sweetheart, don't be prudish."

"I'm not. But I'm not in the slightest bit interested to know about the sex life of the woman who gave birth to me."

"You're make me sound so old, right now. Anyways, we will be there on Friday. And be prepared for the biggest birthday kiss ever. Bye hon."

"We? Mum, wait. We?-Mum?"

Lauren replayed the conversation of last nights phone call in her head. She didn't like the idea of meeting that Brain guy. Every time they got together Lauren insisted there shouldn't be anyone but Rose and herself. Who'd like to get to know their mother's latest fling who was young enough to be their brother, or boyfriend for that matter?

The day went by fast. The blonde had lost herself in her work to get distracted of the permanent throbbing pain on either side of her head. Bye the time they were done shooting rain had started to pour down in thin strings.

Lauren was sitting on the sheltered porch in front of her motel room wearing her yoga pants, a large black band shirt of last Black Sabbath tour of 2014 and her beloved flip flops. The rain was drumming its own rhythm on a abandoned table across the building. The soothing sound filling the still young nights air. The plopping of a sandal against bare skin joying the music played by the ghost of weather.

They wrapped up filming quite early today. Lauren wouldn't have been complaining, hadn't this annoying feeling of emotional distress been humming a threatening song through her guts all day long. Without the shield of work there was no escape.

A movement on the left startled the blonde.

"Gosh, Bo. Don't do that!"

The brunette sat down next to Lauren, nudging shoulders.

"Do what?"

A smile cracked on her lips as Bo watched the rain pouring down the gravel path in front of her.

"Sneak up on me."

Lauren gazed at her co-workers expression after taking in the breathtaking view sitting next to her. She was in form fitting black jeans and a petrol blue blouse with the first three buttons undone presenting the soft creamy skin of her cleavage.

"Oh, that. And here I thought you meant your drum session with Mother Nature."

They locked eyes in a comfortable silence smiling at each other.

"Yeah, that."

"I'll try to behave next time."

Nodding slightly the blonde returned her attention to the small runlet at the bottom of the two stairs in front of her. A leaf is floating down with the water like a boat on the river. A light breeze caressed her skin and let her hair dance in front of her face. Another nudge this time of the brunette's elbow gently pushing into her side.

"You seemed a bit, off today. You okay?"

Lauren tucked the strand of her hair waving in front of her nose behind her left ear. Rolling her eyes upward she chuckled. Feeling the brunette's gaze on her she turned. The soft brown eyes staring back at her made her shiver and the blonde quickly looked down on her hands playing with a little branch she had absentmindedly picked up earlier.

"Yeah, it's just. With my mother coming and all- I don't know."

"I understand."

After a few minutes in comfortable silence they hadn't had for some time after that night's event, Bo stood up abruptly, clapping her hands once. Lauren jumped at the unexpected motion next to her.

"You know what? There is this,let's call it- pub at the end of the road. What'd ya say? You and I and some shots? Let's get wasted!"

Looking up, she saw Bo wiggling her brows a beaming sparkle in her eyes and a mischievous grin on her lips. Lauren was about to answer when Bo shook her head and stretched out her hand waving her forefinger.

"Don't turn me down, Lewis. I know that look on your face. Stop your pro and con-listing-thing. We're young and drop dead gorgeous. It's, what? Nine o'clock? Let's have some fun. Tomorrow you can get out those granny-pants of yours. Pffew thirty two, wouldn't have thought anyone could even get that old. Ouch!"

The blonde laughed while playfully throwing the small branch at the other woman's stomach. Standing up Lauren punched Bo's upper left arm before leaning forward to the brunette's left ear.

"Excuse me, but I think I read something about you being already 33, _granny_."

Lauren stepped back and watched Bo's flabbergasted reaction.

"Well, yeah... um... I am... but that's not the point. You're as old as you feel. And I am definitely and without further discussion in my early twenties. I will never grow up completely."

Brushing her long wavy curls back over her shoulders Bo folded her arms in front of her chest. The blonde opened the door to her room.

"Yeah, I've noticed Miss Squarepants. Give me ten minutes to change and-well, maybe you want to do something about that crow's feet wrinkles around your eyes."

Pointing at Bo's face as she turned and closed the door behind, hearing her co-workers high pitched voice.

"My what?!"

…

"So, let me recapitulate. I am super sexy. I am female. I am super strong. I have dark hair. I wear some kind of uniform-uhm-what was, uh yes, I got some incredible superpowers. That's easy Lauren. I am Wonder Woman."

The pub wasn't high frequented. Three men in their sixties played a game of skat at the wall across the bar, in the left corner of the room sat an already drunk trucker with his head on the table snoring soundly and at the bar where Bo and Lauren were seated a group of four men in their fifties watched a show of the best goals of the English national-soccer-team on TV.

The furniture had that folksy, rustic-style charm. Ursula, the bartender, wasn't tall at all but had the stature like a hammer thrower at the Olympic games. You wouldn't want to mess with that woman. Her hair once dirty blonde slowly turned gray. A pair of piercing blue eyes watched the two women in front of her with delight.

She had told them that it was rather rare for two beautiful women like them to visit 'The Siren'. The bar held room for five tables and a booth in the back. On the wall one could marvel at several photographs of Ursula with various artist of different music genres.

Some were Jazz musician, some Country Stars. At the back near the toilette Lauren had seen a picture of Ozzy Osbourne and admired the photo for quite some time.

After a fifteen minutes walk from the motel the two actresses arrived at their destination. Fortunately the rain had stopped to fall down to persistently bathe anything and anyone without hesitation in its wetness.

At some point Bo had the brilliant idea to start some drinking game. The outcome of a short discussion whether this was the brightest thing to do, Bo ordered a bottle of Tequila, a pen and some post-its.

"Ok, Honey-bunch. The game is called 'Who am I' and you have to-"

"I know that game."

"Great. But the catch will be, with every 'No' you have to take a shot."

"I don't think I should play that kind of game."

"Why?"

"'Caaause the last time I got 'wasted',uhm... let's say I wasn't myself anymore."

"Oooooh. We so have to play that game, Lewis. I need to meet 'After-hours-Lauren'."

An hour, half a bottle of Tequila and four bottles of beer later Bo threw her fist into the air in victory. Lauren frowned. This had been the third round of Who am I- Bo Deluxe Version the brunette had guessed right and Lauren had to drown at least four shots, per round.

Although Bo had been drinking, too, every second shot the blonde had to take. She had said something about fairness and the will to get rid of the feeling of being sober for too long.

"How do you do that? How comes that you win every round?"

Bo leaned forward as if to tell Lauren the biggest secret.

"Beeeecause... I'm super smart!"

Laughing Bo drowned another shot, not mentioning the small mirror that was pinned on the wall near the self made sign pointing the direction to the toilette behind the blonde. Shaking off the aftertaste of the fruit's sour juice she sucked on.

"If I have one more lime, I'm not gonna be able to feel my lips."

Lauren smiled. She felt dizzy but in a comfortable way. She couldn't remember the last time she had that much fun. There had been that woman a few blocks away of her apartment building back in Toronto. Nadia. They had seen each other for some time. It was the closest thing to friendship Lauren had had in a long time. But recently Nadia had moved away for a photo project called 'The Garuda'. Whatever that might be. She had never described it further and one day they had said their goodbyes.

"Yeah, you are. Super smart I mean. Oh so I don't have to tell you that Wonder Woman is one of the oldest Superheros and the first female Superhero of the DC Universe, right? But... I was aiming for oldest."

A slender finger poked in the middle of the blondes chest.

"Ha Ha! Funny Lauren. Great sense of humor."

Imitating a curtsy Lauren smiled wide grabbing the post-it off of her forehead.

"Well, thank you very much, ooouu, the devil? Really Bo? I'm shocked."

Bo smirked at the comment.

"You do know that you're wearing a shirt with a topless chick on it, right?"

The blonde looked down at the spot Bo's finger still lingered fully aware of the closeness. She was indeed wearing a gray shirt with a topless woman at the front. It was the cover of the latest Blues Pills album. She loved the band and thought that tonight was as good as any to put that one out of her sea-bag. Besides it was the perfect match to her black Boyfriend-Jeans.

"Oh, look at that. You're right. Distracting!"

With another sip of her beer Lauren started to listen attentively to the song playing in the background. Jumping up off of her chair she took hold on Bo's hand, dragging her along the way in the middle of the pub. Pushing some chairs aside, Lauren made room for the two of them to stand.

"What? Lauren?"

Lauren turned to Ursula.

"Hey, my favorite bartender Ursula. Would be so kind and turn up the volume for us?"

Ursula nodded, mumbling something about killing her grandson to manipulate her favorite playlist with his teeny garbage.

The soft sound of guitar riffs pervaded the with turpentine and resin soaked air of the small tavern. The once soundly sleeping trucker managed to pick up his heavy head to hover a few seconds above the hard wooden table only to crash back down again. Lauren reached down to slip out of her flip flops.

"Come on Bo. Take your flip flops off."

Bo's eyes grew wide and when she got hold on the blondes arm she whispered nervously in her ear.

"I won't dance here of all places. There isn't even a real dance floor. "

Lauren was a bit tipsy. After swirling around with outstretched arms to emphasize her former work of creating space, she placed her hands on either side of Bos' face, pulling her as close to her face as possible without touching and still being able to look into each others eyes. Licking her lips, tasting a hint of salt and lemon, Lauren stared into those beautiful warm brown orbs.

"Listen, Miss 'drop dead gorgeous- 33- let's get wasted'-Squarepants. You wanted to get to know this 'after-hours-Lauren'. Here she is and now you have to handle the side-effects of rubbing against her magic lantern."

With a peck on Bo's nose Lauren let go of the brunettes face and smirked by the look she received. A small smile was crawling up the corner of Bo's lips. Shifting from her left to her right foot she managed to kick off her flip flops not caring that one of them flew across the room and slapped against the poor trucker's left cheek, but neither did he.

 _I_ _have a problem that I cannot explain_

 _I have no reason, why it should have been so plain?_

 _Have no questions but I sure have excuse_

 _I lack the reason, why I should be so confused_?

The smirk on the blonde's face widened even more. Taking the brunette's right hand in her left, the other found the spot on the small of Bo's back pressing her flat against her body in one swift move. Gasping Bo watched her co-workers face intensely. Lauren could feel Bo's hot breath on her skin and almost tasted the last shot of Tequila the brunette had drowned on her own lips.

"What now? What do you have in mind? Waltz?"

"Something like that."

Lauren felt Bo relax in her embrace and the brunette's hand was resting on her shoulder. They were only mere centimeters apart. The images of that night she was asked to forget about popped back up. She couldn't distinguish if the heavy and fast bumping of a heart against her chest belonged to her or her co-worker. Maybe a bit of both. The touch of the blonde's hand on Bo's back tightened and she could sense the brunettes' muscles twitching.

"Just follow my lead. We're going to be just fine."

"I trust you."

 _I know, how I feel when I'm around you_

 _I don't know, how I feel when I'm around you_

 _Around you_

Holding each others gaze Lauren initiated the first move. Still entwined in each other's arms the blonde guided them gracefully along the small space the few tables and chairs held to dance. Lauren felt a rush of electricity like never before.

With Bo's body close by she tried to memorize every touch, every twist of a muscles, every tingle of skin underneath the thin fabric separating the softness she now craved for.

Those brown orbs looking back at her with a hint of fascination and disbelief.

Lauren couldn't understand what had gotten into her. When she had heard the song after being in that comfortable bubble of playing games, drinking, joking she just reacted and didn't spare a another thought about what was happening.

It all had made perfect sense to her.

The song went on and the pair seemed more and more at ease with their closeness. Lauren leaned forward and brushed along Bo's right cheek in slow motion to not startle the brunette. She whispered over the music into an eager ear.

"You okay?"

Lauren felt a nod in the crook of her neck and a hot, wet breath on her already heated skin.

"Okay. You up for some spinning then?"

Another nod.

"Good. Hold on tight."

 _Left a massage, but it ain't a bit of use_

 _I have some pictures, the wild might be the deuce_

 _Today you saw, you saw me, you explained_

 _Playing the show and running down the plane_

Spinning slowly Lauren used all room there was to dance. Looking at Bo she saw a smile gazing up at her. Her courage got her bolder and she sped up until they were whirling in small circles. A laugh escaped the brunettes chest and Lauren joined her. Laughing and turning they danced along with the plucking of the guitar.

 _I know, how I feel when I'm around you_

 _I don't know, how I feel when I'm around you_

 _I, I know, how I feel when I'm around you_

 _I don't know, how I feel when I'm around you_

 _Around you_

Some of the patrons were watching the act from afar. Ursula dried off some glasses and smiled at the picture in front of her. Seeing the two spinning and laughing and holding each other made her heart ache in a warm and delightful way.

 _I, I know, how I feel when I'm around you_

 _I don't know, how I feel when I'm around you_

Lauren knew that the song was going to an end soon, so she slowed down again until they stopped and just stayed in the moment. Sometime along the way the fabric of Bo's blouse had rucked up. Lauren's pinkie and the tip of her ring finger caressed the now bare skin of the small of the brunettes back with light strokes. The laughter faded away. Looking deeply into each others eyes the hand that was rested on the blonde's shoulder trod a path up along her elegant neck. Fingers playing mindlessly with golden strands.

 _I, I know, how I feel when I'm around you_

 _I don't know, how I feel when I'm around you_

Lauren couldn't fight the urge to stare at those inviting lips. The tip of Bos' tongue inched along their soft outlines wetting them. When she managed to look back up she found Bo's gaze locked on her own lips. The room around them blurred and vanished. The only thing that mattered right now right there, was the brunette she embraced with a strong arm, hands still holding but were now settled next to their warm bodies.

When Bo's eyes scanned Lauren's face back up to meet her hazel brown orbs she moved forward ever so slightly.

"My God, you're beautiful."

Was all her co-worker breathed out before she felt Bo's mouth upon her's.

 _Around you, around you, around you, around you._

Hands tangled in blonde and brunette locks. Nose brushed against nose. Bodies swayed along the fading sound of the music. Slow, gentle movements of salty and sour flavored lips, tasting, exploring. The women were lost in their new dance, learning the other's longing motion.

"That was hooot, mhhh, girls. Great!"

A clapping sound right next to Lauren's face broke the intimacy of the moment and the blonde teared herself away from the happiness she found in Bo's arms. Catching her breath and straightening out her tousled hair Lauren stared at Bo. Swallowing hard she turned to face the intruder.

"Massimo. Hi...uhm, what brings you here?"

Forcing a fake smile Massimo positioned himself next to Bo whose gaze still held the blonde's every time their eyes met. A hairy arm was placed around the brunette's neck, pressing her to its owner. Massimo smiled one of his toothy grins.

"May I cut in to save the next dance with this talented ballerina? You were finished right?"

Lauren brushed her fingers through her strands again and again, looking at the floor, searching for her flip flops. She exhaled in relieve when she made out her sandals next to one of the tables. Walking up, she put them back on.

"Uh, s-sure Massimo. Uhm, I was just about to go anyway. So... Bo? Th-thank you for the dance and I'll see you tomorrow then."

One last sorrowful look at her dance partner Lauren turned and rushed out.

"Lauren?!"

Stepping out into the pouring rain wasn't what the blonde thought would happen after that moment of pure embarrassment. She felt hot and cold, stiff and relaxed, relieved and bothered all at once. She wanted to run back in that bar and steal away what had to be hers. On the other hand she wanted to run back in to throw up at the restroom in pitiful loneliness. The alcohol in her system knocked politely on her forehead to ask permission to get out. But she wouldn't let any of this happen.

It hadn't take long for the deluge from up above to drown her and leave her wet and shivering.

"Great!"

Looking up, she blinked several times to get a clearer view of the black sky above. That expressly underlined exactly the state she found herself in. Angry about her reaction. She never stood her ground when she had wanted to so badly. Better to duck ones hat and go with the flow. Oh or that other line, what was it? Something about the fishes and swimming with the flood. Or was that what dead fishes did? Whatever!

"Just great!"

"You think?"

Startled Lauren watched as Bo was walking up to her.

"I think we should get going. I don't know if you've noticed but, it's raining rather heavily."

Chuckling the brunette took hold of Lauren's soaking left hand and dragged her along the empty road in the direction their motel waited to offer its shelter.

"Bo, you don't have to go because of me. You can stay, go back in, have some fun."

Her co-worker stopped dead in tracks, Lauren almost bumped right into her. Turning around she was facing a with anger and confusing glowing brunette.

"Okay, let me make one thing perfectly clear, right now. I like you Lauren and I like to spend time with you. I think you should have noticed that by now. And don't you dare offer me a fun-night with Mr. Hairy-Bonehead, urgh. So, in case you prefer to get back into a place less wet and cold you can come with me then."

Still holding hands Lauren nodded.

"Okay."

The walk back was a silent one. Along the way their joined hands interlaced fingers. The rain clashed loudly on the ground and a cold wind smashed fountains of water in their face with every breeze. But it didn't feel bad at all. Lauren enjoyed their found again togetherness. When the motel building rose on the horizon a flood of sadness overlay the former sense of pleasure.

Standing in front of Bo's door the blonde waited for her to unlock the wooden barrier. Her co-worker's hand was trembling, probably because of the cold, and couldn't fit the key into the lock. Frustrated she let out a harsh breath. Lauren covered the slightly shaking, but freezing fingers with her own warm ones. She steadied their movements, guided the brunette's hand back to the door and helped her to put the key into its destination. A quiet click caused to lighten up Bo's distorted facial features.

"Thanks."

Leaning against the frame Bo smiled at her. Goosebumps popped up on her silky skin.

"You should get inside, Bo. You're freezing."

"Yeah, I am. I think I'll take a quick hot shower and try to get some sleep."

Looking at each other Lauren tipped her forefinger at her chin.

"That would be a wise decision."

Bo giggled.

"Thank you, Bo. Honestly."

"What for?"

"For everything. I really had a good time tonight."

"Yes, me, too. And you don't have to thank me. I was a selfish undertaking."

"How comes?"

Lauren crooked her head.

"I had to meet 'After-hours-Lauren' and I have to say, she's quite nice."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Lauren blushed and looked to her wet flip flops. She missed the step Bo made to stand in front of her. When Lauren looked back up she was greeted with a soft kiss placed on her cheek near the corner of her mouth.

"Goodnight, birthday girl."

Lauren was stunned. She took a look at her watch. It was already one o'clock on Friday morning. Bo winked a last time before closing the door.

"Goodnight, Bo."

* * *

Song: System of a Down- Roulette


	4. Chapter 4

**Next chapter up. Hope you like it.**

 **Oh and I'm on Twitter 'adrenaLYNN1986', if you're interested. If not...,well, can't do anything about it.**

 **EmCelle, muchas Gracias, como siempre!**

Chapter 4

 **Bo's POV**

She had dreamed again tonight.

The one that was haunting her every time, she forced her brain to shut down and to give her a brake but failed for most of the times she had slept in this motel room. The same dream had woken her up and forced her to take the walk that had ended at her co-worker's door and almost ruined everything that other time.

The feelings that accompanied her imagination weren't unpleasant.

Well, they had never been unpleasant _while_ her mind created the scene she relived at least every second night.

The feeling she felt after waking though, _those_ were unpleasant.

The movie in her head allowed her to feel like flying up in the sky, bursting out in laughter to beware her body to explode out of pure pleasure until the finale curtains fall and her unconscious state faded into the stone cold reality of the here and now again.

Waking up was like falling down on the hard ground. A growing frustration replaced every sense of the former vertiginous and lightheaded sentiments.

Leaving her lost and lonely in her double bed.

Cold under her actually overheated bedding.

Overwhelmed with the jumble of her thoughts.

She had been even more tired in the mornings than she felt in the evenings. Fortunately, her good gen pool made it so she looked presentable barely noticeable bags and a thin line of shadow underneath her eyes, easy to hide under some make up but could tell tales about her struggling to get rid of those pictures and unresolved emotions that left her exhausted and unwillingly sad.

Today it was a first, since the crew started shooting, to open her eyes and see the sunbeams sneaking through the half closed louver next to the door shining warm upon her bare left leg. A comfort she had been craving for so long.

Most of the times she had gotten up with a start, sweating and searching for a fixing point in the heavy seas. Lost in the darkness, nearly drowning, inhaling the cool and wet air, choking as if her lungs hadn't breathed in in a long time.

But this morning- this morning was _different_. A small smile found its way around her lips. Her body stretched on autopilot. Hands roaming up and down the mattress on her left and right side.

She had slept astoundingly well.

Her head still woozy in a very satisfying way and her heart wouldn't slow down so easily today. But she didn't want it to. The situation she found herself in after opening her eyes was new and welcomed. She couldn't think of a moment in the past she ever had been in such a fascinating yet daunting state.

Her thoughts glued on the last pictures of her dream. Pictures of her and a gorgeous woman with hair shimmering golden when light was hitting the right spots. Bright and soulful cognac colored eyes deep enough to drown and get besotted in, locked on hers. The hot and all consuming touch of eager fingertips single-mindedly sailing an unmarked path across bare and slightly wet skin.

Words left unspoken on the tip of her tongue by the feeling of the warmth and softness of the golden haired beauty's body on top of hers, shifting to find the right angle to provide every caresable inch of skin with pure ecstasy, to obtain those delicate small whimpers and hitched breaths.

Yesterday Bo had experienced a brief glimpse of the passion her all in control co-worker buried inside. The flirting, the dancing, but most of all sharing their second kiss. It had felt so good, so right. And like their first kiss it was over far too soon.

She was yet again stuck in that very moment, where their lips were moving against each other. When she closed her eyes she could still make out the alcohol flavored taste of her mouth now saved in her mind together with the scent of her shampoo and perfume all locked up in that special place.

 _Friends- pfft._

Bo knew the second the word had been formed in her head, that it had been a lie and she needed to be in best shape to perform that role properly. But she had promised to keep her heart sheltered and protected to what ever harm would come. It had needed more time to heal after her last shot on building a relationship where romance was involved, than she liked to admit to herself.

The radio clock went off signaling that it was time to get up and start the day. She wasn't a morning type of girl. Always tried to kick or punch the alarming intruder. That one time back in high school she had thrown it right against the next wall only to find out how surprisingly solid a Swiss handiwork could be. So she had to get off and out of the warmth of her bed anyway, because its sound shifted from slow and deep to shrill and fast.

 _Six a.m._

She must have been crazy to agree to do some workout with Jegor this morning before shooting. He asked that day after her wretched encounter with her co-worker and the thought of being preoccupied with anything other than sorting through the mess of feelings, had sounded to good to be true.

But the damage was done and she always kept her word. So she got up.

Heading into the bathroom she brushed her teeth and got into her training's outfit. A pair of black yoga pants, a tight pink tank top under a white hoodie zipped up and her favorite flip flops. She would have to take those sandals off anyway, because Jegor said, that there was no better way to get the perfect balance than on bare feet.

Her hair up in a loose bun she walked out the front door and climbed the stairs down with an extra swing in her steps. There was little time left but she hazarded the consequences she knew Jegor would enforce upon her for coming late. She couldn't care less at the moment, there was a mission to accomplish.

Outside, spring was in full force. The morning sun braced her energy to give hope for a beautiful day. The scent of flowers, leaning their heads towards the light, filling the air. The sight of juicy green grass shimmering wet by the bead of dew and thin branches waving happily with every breeze of the light wind brushing through the leafage were extending an invitation to take a walk and enjoy oneself.

The small cafe Bo and Lauren brought their morning caffeine was located across the reception a stones throw from either of their rooms. Money in hand she entered the small shop. It was less of a cafe and more of some kind of large kiosk. But the coffee was freshly brewed after being stone-ground and one could taste the love the baked goods were made with by its owner.

"Good morning Miss Dennis. Same as always?"

An old man with thick white hair greeted her from behind the counter cleaning his hands on a piece of towel hanging from his bolt. He was short, smaller by a head than Bo. His kind green eyes foggy with the first signs of cataract.

"Good morning to you, too, Mr. Fothergill. No, today is a special occasion. So I need two coffee- okay that's the usual- but I'm searching for some kind of birthday cake?"

"Oh, a birthday. Who's the lucky one to receive the attention of this beautiful woman in front of me?"

He leaned forward on the counter resting on his forearms.

A small blush was formed on the chuckling brunettes cheeks.

"Uhm... Lauren is the lucky one."

"Ah I see. That she is indeed! Wait a sec. I think I know exactly what you're looking for!"

He got up and walked to the fridge in the corner next to the door with the 'staff only' sign. The glass door opened with a muffled hiss. Bo was going through the newspaper that was placed on one of the tables in the small sitting area. The smell of coffee, freshly baked bagels and the ink of the latest info from around the world created an atmosphere that begged one to stay and get lost in the moment.

 _Latest prediction of the vote for the new president of Poland: The contender of the national conservatives Andrzej Duda won._

 _Maritime accident in China: Hope is fading._

 _Weather forecast for the next three days: Fine and dry with periods of sunshine during the day. Feeling warm with light winds. Dry with clear spells overnight._

Bo was trying to remember when she had been as relaxed as she was right now, sitting on a rather uncomfortable chair made of steel in a town far away from home, without the safety of her daily morning routine. Back home she'd had a strict working schedule for the last couple of months.

She would wake up early, mostly grumpy and alone. After getting ready in far too little amount of time, swallowing some cereal and coffee to hopefully get a kick start for her day, before she had to head to Nathan for a quick meeting. Between interviews and some office stuff, she had to prepare for this new role, to become Rogue, learn the lines and get a feeling for the new character. What she would do or how she would react in different kind of situations.

On the evenings Bo would meet with Jegor. Every evening but Saturdays. That was the day she wanted to do some Bo-Stuff. The only day she always took off to enjoy some piece and quiet.

Lost in thoughts she didn't realize that the coffee shop owner moved in front of her, a box in hand.

"Here it is. It is one of the famous chocolate chip cupcakes my beloved wife used to bake before she passed away far too early."

His voice full of pride and a hint of sadness. Bo opened the lid to the smell and sight of a small but perfectly round brown cupcake with a delicious swirled cream topping. A birthday-cake candle stuck in the middle and a small flag positioned to the left read _'Happy Birthday'_ in multicolored letters.

"Wow, this is perfect."

Smiling, Bo got up and followed the white headed man to the register, fumbling threw the coins in her hand.

"Keep your money young lady. It's a gift. My wife would have turned in her grave if I asked a warmhearted and beautiful regular like you to pay for a birthday-cake."

Blushing yet again Bo thanked the older man, grabbed the cup holder with coffee and the box.

 _Six fifteen_. She had to hurry.

Standing in front of Lauren's door she felt nervous. Why should she be nervous? It's Lauren. Her co-worker and friend and, well, and what? They had yet to talk about what was going on between the two of them. But was Bo ready for the outcome?

What if the blonde just wanted to stay in that co-worker slash friend zone? Would Bo agree? Could she return to the point of playing that nice and patient friend, stealing secret glances and hunger for any possibility to touch? Taking a deep breath Bo placed the cup holder on the ground and knocked three times.

Nothing.

She tried again, more urgent.

Still nothing.

She leaned sideways to the window. The curtains were closed. Lauren must have been up by now, so she guessed.

Her hand went straight to the doorknob without a second thought turning to open the door. Bo was a bit surprised that her otherwise extremely cautious co-worker left the only blockade to her private quarters unlocked. Again.

Sticking her head in the small open slit she called out for Lauren, eyes closed because of the last time she eagerly stormed into a unsuspected but, on the other hand more than pleasant sight of an incredible, breathtaking blonde with porcelain skin in all her naked glory.

When there was no answer she stepped in further. Her eyes wandered across the room to stop on an outstretched form in the middle of the bed much smaller than Bo's was. Blonde hair was spread out on the pillows, a blanket covered most of the woman laying on her stomach soundly asleep.

Bo smiled to the image of the sleeping beauty in front of her. Turning she got the cup holder back up and closed the door silently. She just stood there, coffee and cake in hand, watching the stage play on close up inhaling deeply. A scent of candle wax and shampoo lingering in the air.

Slowly she stepped forward and placed the gift on the nightstand closest to her. She sat down carefully on the mattress to the blondes left without a sound. She wouldn't like to disturb the peaceful still life painting she wanted to admire for just a bit longer.

Her eyes scanning the soft features of Lauren's face. Strands of hair had fallen across closed eyes and mouth. Bo reached out to brush away the loose locks, lightly touching smooth skin underneath her fingertips. White headphones came into view and the muffled sound of guitar music explained why the woman in front of her wouldn't notice Bo's presence at all.

Mindlessly playing with the golden tresses she was still holding, Bo thought of the fact that she had never seen such satisfaction and happiness on her co-worker's face. There had always been a light touch of something. Something that seemed to be missing to get the blonde into the state she now was in, spread out under the thin cotton.

Roaming further, the brunettes gaze dropped to Lauren's right leg uncovered up to her hipbone. She could only imaging what lay under those black boy-shorts. The light blue tank top showed off a tiny little bit of bare skin of the blondes back and side. Lauren's right arm bent to settle down next to her head with her hand hiding under the pillow.

Although Bo could make out a small pool of drool where the white fabric of the pillow went transparent and a quiet but steady snoring that escaped the natural beauty's every inhale, there was nothing more stunning and magnificent to compare to what the brunette found in this very motel room, on this early morning, on this special Friday.

The chocolate brown orbs observed the breathtaking sight a little longer until the blinking digits of the alarm clock popped into view.

"Shit!"

 _Six thirty five._

She was five minutes late for her workout and her muscles tensed up only by the thought of the punishment that she knew would rain over her the second Jegor got a hold on her. He disliked waiting, more so when anyone forced him to. Mostly, he hated when someone didn't follow his orders, he saw it as disrespect.

Taking one of the paper cups with the aromatic black liquid out of the holder, Bo had to wrestle herself free of the wonderland bubble she longed to stay in forever but knew she needed to get out of.

Stepping back outside the smiling sun's glory grew more and more in the sky. It was going to be a wonderful day after that monsoon of water raining stair-rods down out of the black firmament yesterday evening. Birds were flying through the complex of the motel buildings singing and piping along the way. The wind was a bit chilly puffing through the brunette's hoodie that she had opened while watching Lauren sleep. With a healthy sip of her coffee she started down the path where her Russian master of torture was probably already waiting for his prey to arrive.

"You are eight minutes and... forty six seconds late Danielle-san!"

A short walk up the path and around the first motel building the unmistakable chesty voice of the giant northeastern Eurasian pierced marrow and bone of the brunette. Leaning against the stem of an old, big oak tree, Jegor took a look on his watch at his arm crossed over his bulky chest. A pair of aviator shades reflecting the blue sky when his gaze popped up to meet with Bo.

"Yeah sorry about that..."

That was a lie.

"...I overslept."

Good thing she was an actress. Otherwise, she might not have been able to suppress the million dollar smile that was building up inside at the thought of the _real_ reason she was late.

"Oh, yeah? But I'm glad you've had enough time to buy yourself a coffee."

"Yeah, well, no... actually this one is for you!"

Another lie. Boy she had a flow.

Jegor pushed off of the tree and strolled up next to the brunette who waited for him with an outstretched arm, offering her beloved caffeine to lighten the mood and maybe avert more problems.

Her body was yet to recover from the last workout she'd had to endure due to was almost two weeks ago. Come to think of it, it'd also been because of the same thing, Lauren. Not her herself but the images and thoughts of her that Bo couldn't let go of, flying through her brain, hollering for anticipation to see her co-worker on set or for their morning routine, forgetting time and place.

Jegor's plump fingers clapped the paper cup. Bo let loose with a wistful sigh. She could have used the extra stimulant.

"You want to rectify your non-sequitur?"

Taking a sip Jegor eyed Bo from behind his sunglasses.

"I-don't actually know which part?"

"Last chance, Danielle-san!"

His voice was deeper, if that was even possible. Bo shrugged.

A smirk on the bald headed mans face grew wider into a full blown toothy smile and a mischievous perk up of his beetle uni-brow, he leaned forward.

"I could have sworn Bo, that a few minutes ago-"

One arm around Bos shoulders he was turning her around with him. Cup in hand his forefinger pointed towards the adjacent building, his head right next to Bos'.

"-I saw a brunette wearing the exact same clothes you are wearing right now, going into the room, of some blonde, lean woman over there."

"Yeah, well, you must have confused me with somebody else, because I went from the coffee shop straight up the path to you."

"Oh, I will so savor this workout today, 'cause you won't be able to walk the whole weekend my sweet Deshi. So, let's start. Take off those ridiculous slippers you call shoes and give me twenty push ups."

Rolling her eyes Bo did as told a never fading smirk of her own on her face. She would hate herself by the end of the day, but it was so worth the pain she knew would come.

Midway through the third round of punches and kicks her body hurt like hell. Every muscle screamed and begged for her to have an understanding and just give up. Bo's left leg, the one balancing her while kicking, gave away and she fell to the ground. Soft grass broke her fall. A small whimper puffed out of her throat. When she opened her eyes again she saw the Sensei hovering above her, hands on is knees and a big fat satisfied grin on his lips.

"I think it's time for a little break."

"A break? I was hoping for the end of the workout."

"No, I think I want you to suffer a bit more for foxing me."

Bo moaned in frustration.

"Jegor, really I don't want to talk about it."

"And what would that _it_ be?"

While sitting up she regretted it immediately because of a piercing throb in her midsection. She lay back down.

"Bo listen, I saw the two of you yesterday night. It is not my place to argue with you but I do remember the last time you had that look on your face. You could have lost everything because of that other girl."

"That was different."

"How was it any different?"

Bo turned her head to look into concerned blue eyes of her trainer now laying next to her on a ground, slightly wet. The sun couldn't dry off the morning dew fast enough.

"I like her, Jegor. Like _really_ like her."

"Yeah, I can see that much. But you've also said that one before. Told me about moving in and working on a future together."

A heavy sigh was all she gave before the music of the beautiful spring morning surrounded them.

Yes, she did remember, too well. And it hurt as if had just happened yesterday. Her last relationship held for one and a half unbelievably great years until it all had gone downhill.

Her name was Tasmin and she had been one of the camera assistants of a movie Bo had been shooting at that time. They flirted a lot throughout the filming. Whispered words of adoration, stealing glances and one day Bo asked her out on a date. It was nice and thrilling. Tasmin knew how to season opportunity. Bo fell in love hard and fast.

Both of them did. At least that was what Bo had thought until she came home one day to find her girlfriend rooting with the girl of that bar they used to go out to on Saturdays.

On the kitchen counter. In Bo's apartment. On her midday break of the last movie project. A high school movie with her in the leading role as the captain of the cheerleader team.

She had to steady herself on the frame of her kitchen door watching her lover in the middle of climaxing by the touch of that short haired butch screaming with eyes growing wide when Tamsin noticed her standing in front of them.

End of game, Bo left the horror show with glassy eyes and broken heart in hand.

She emailed Nathan she wouldn't be able to get back for the last scene because of a spontaneous outbreak of the flu with raptus-like deflation of stomach content. In retrospect she was proud of herself for coming up with something like that, when all she was feeling and thinking had been blurred together into pain, hurt, loss, anger.

At that time she was already preparing to play the character of Rogue. There wasn't much of free time and most of the days she had felt weary to the bone physically and emotionally.

She had started her workout with Jegor a few weeks before her world she worked so hard for to construct, broke into pieces and had come to an end. Exhaustion had built a steady home in her body and soul. There was no buffer left to secure her actions. She could only react anymore. So she had been running as long as her feet would let her and until her eyes left her blind because of the falling tears storming down her face, blurring the view.

When her brain had caught up she found herself standing next to a car in an abandoned alley. It was nearly dark. She must have been absconding form the scene in her house for some time.

The car's license plate held a familiar combination of numbers. Tasmin's birthday. All those burning emotions arose from the depth of her darkened guts suffering of betrayal.

So when she had climbed atop of the black old Chevrolet the only thing she could think about was revenge.

The theme song of _'The Karate Kid'_ broke through her permanent stomping against the roof succumbing the angry outburst. Just minutes after an awkward talk over the phone, where Bo couldn't get out much more than broken, mostly dirty words, Jegor somehow got the information he needed to find Bo in a squatting position yet sitting on the damaged top of the car, sobbing and shivering. Her inner-hulk had long dwindled into a small and fearful puppy lost and lonely.

Thankfully nobody had noticed the brunette that night. Otherwise she surely would have had to justify her actions at court.

Feeling burnt-out and tired the brunette had followed her trainer back to his apartment a few blocks away. The tragedy of the moment turned into something to hold on to, to keep her from falling even deeper in distress and self-destruction. A sincere and selfless friendship that grew over the months and still lasted until then. Something real and not one of those sycophants that made use of her fame, fortune and reputation.

Except of Kenzie of course, but she hadn't been available at that time, because of her four weeks vacation in Australia she had saved all her money for. A dream she had dreamed since high school.

The goodhearted Russian helped Bo to get rid of all the things Tasmin left in her apartment after he had thrown the blonde cheater out with a well-meant warning to never come back or bother Bo. As was known later, Tasmin was banging that other woman for the last three months.

"Don't you think I know, Jegor? I tried to bury my feelings and thoughts and it worked all day long. But at night-"

Another sigh.

"-I dream about her. .Time. As if my mind knows nothing else to orbit around. I tried to talk myself out of it. Reminded myself of the pain I felt the last time I let loose and... It's ridiculous. Pathetic. Stupid. And so much more, but I can't help it. Every time I look into her eyes, see the way she smiles back at me, hear her voice and smell her unique and intoxicating scent, I feel free and happy and it's like everything seems to be like it should be. Am I making any sense right now?"

Jegor sat up and took Bos hand in his, squeezing several times. He wasn't much older than Bo. Around his early forties, but he radiated a father-like authority. Every word, every action held a soothing and supporting effect on the brunette. She felt safe around him. As much as they goofed and fooled around they respected one another.

"Okay my little Padawan..."

"Star Wars? Really?"

"Shut up and listen!"

He helped her sit up properly.

"All I'm saying is, be careful. I love you like family and I want you to be happy. We've known each other for about nine months now and I have never seen you as happy as you are right now. And as much as I cherish your ability to watch out for yourself after what happened in that alley, I know what it is like to fall in love."

"I never said anything about love."

"No, but this rose-colored glasses sitting on your nose don't make it any easier to think rationally. And now, get your prima-ballerina butt up, this is not the Swan Lake! So stop floating like a duck."

He stood up and held his hand in Bo's face. Rolling her eyes and with a heavy moan of displeasure she forced herself to a standing position once again.

"It's a swan, not a duck. It's not called Duck Lake!"

Her muscles felt more wobbly than before. But all in all, she felt refreshed and ready for the next round. And it wasn't only the workout she was thinking about.


	5. Chapter 5

**Well, wow, yeah, it's been- awhile. Finally here it is, the next chapter. It is a really long one and I hope you won't get tired while reading. Thanks for all those reviews and comments. For those who asked, where I've been and if I was okay? I was right here all the time, but working on a lot of chapters of those stories I update not close as fast enough, I suppose. And, yes, I'm fine.**

 **So without any further comments, I do apologize and hope you'll like the words I want to present to you now.**

 **Thank you EmCelle! You are... I have no words, that's what you make of me. I am actually speechless. ;) (now I have to search in my dictionary for the right ones)**

 **I don't own Lost Girl. Sad but true.**

 **Lauren's POV**

Half asleep, half awake. A state where body and mind coalesces with one another. A silent communication on a level of unconscious understanding. Staying in some kind of meditation without even trying much. Simple and yet as complex as designing a spaceship or paralyzing a cat in a stare-down. A dazed condition after re-energizing the tired system. The status after rebooting ones hard drive and the start of forming coherent thoughts again. Refilling every fiber with newly acquired strength after a good night's rest.

Tender timbres of a guitar coaxed out of the white earphones of Lauren's iPod. The blonde couldn't force herself out of that early morning concert. Her brain refused to react and wouldn't send the orders necessary to get her heavy muscles to make a move.

A gentle brush of warmth against her cheek. Hair moving slightly across her face. A scent filling her head, her throat, her lungs, different from the ones she used to breathing in but nonetheless familiar. If it was even possible, she was gliding just a bit more into the world in between.

A light shift underneath her sleeping form trying to disturb her inebriation-like shape but nothing could bring Lauren back to the land of awareness. Those minutes of the day were assigned for herself and only herself.

When she was awake, she had to fit in. She dragged herself in roles she had learned to perform while growing up.

There was the student, who would hide in the back and remain silent not to be seen. Invisible to those who wouldn't even try to glimpse through the walls she had built up. Doing her work out of sight, so that sometimes even the docents had asked, who that Lauren Lewis was, although she had been in their course for months.

Then there was the daughter, who tried desperately to fulfill her mother's unspoken wishes or react to the unintended effects her mother's actions had on her daily life. Sweeping up the broken pieces after another unrequited love of some random boyish guy. Taking care of the things a mother should have been through those embarrassing moments, when all she craved was to dig a hole and get lost in its depth.

Then there was the granddaughter, the only role closest to the real Lauren, but nonetheless she was holding back. Not daring to reveal her friable innermost thoughts. Her grandmother had been strong in character and the only person to look up to for the young adolescent, even though the older woman had carried a sadness in her eyes the blonde child couldn't name.

The role of the actress was the hardest she was the center of the attention of people around her. A lot of strangers pushing and pulling, telling her what to wear, where to stand. It had been new and at first she had had doubts of the path she was heading. She had never received that kind of heed. Never had been longed for it. More so, every shadow, every spot untouched of the brightness of daylight or the flickering shine of halogen ceiling lamps had been her calming point in an odd and kind of desperate way.

But when she slipped into the character, created by some writers, she felt that inner peace to just go with the flow. Everything made sense the moment she switched personality and there was no need to be Lauren Lewis, the misfit, the nerd, the third wheel. When she wasn't herself but the person created from someone else's quill, she felt whole. Emotions she kept at bay, well hidden in her deepest self, now flooding into the person she became with every breath and every step she took.

The lines she had to say, remembered easily. Every character had it's own background and random facts to juggle with. Lauren knew how to change parts, how to reverse roles. She had been doing it her whole life. She embodied the person she had to play with every fiber of her being. Loosing herself sometimes in the complexity of their lives. Even the saddest and most painful parts of a stage play felt easy to get into. She had already experienced sadness and pain.

The only thing she couldn't get used to had been and still was the actress, Lauren Lewis, after filming. When all shots had been taken or a break was needed. At times like these, the only thing she wanted to do was get back into that small space she created for herself. Locked up behind closed doors. Pretending to rehearse for the next scene or to get some rest.

She couldn't get used to that part of movie making or standing on a stage until that one brunette came along. That brunette, who wouldn't let Lauren slip into that other role again. The one, trying to disappear in the crowd, not to be seen by her co-workers. That brunette managed to lure that shy and self-conscious woman out of her comfort zone.

In the presence of Bo, Lauren felt as if there was no need to hold back. She could be herself. The real Lauren. The one that rambled when a topic snapped her into geek mode. The one that couldn't stand motel room germs and started to disinfect all surfaces. The one that needed space in a room hall full of people and who wasn't good at handling closeness. But with this brunette all of those things Lauren thought she had to shut in a box and bury elsewhere, so no one would notice her awkwardness and uneasiness, seized being an issue when they were together.

She didn't know, when it started. Somehow it just happened. Like absentmindedly pushing the 'on' button of the coffee machine after lunch, although one had just wanted to prepare everything for some visitors arriving around afternoon.

It just happened.

It had always been easy and light and funny and Lauren caught herself thinking about getting closer and feeling Bo as near as possible for more than just once. Bo even laughed when the blonde made one of her stupid jokes or was listening when she had something serious to discuss. It was nice. And that scared her. It her scared for multiple reasons.

First of all, she was afraid to let someone, anyone, get through the massive gates of her combat walls. She had been sitting in first row, watching the marriage of her parents go downhill. The way her father treated them afterwards until he forgot all about them and just vanished from the surface of the earth.

Second, the death of her grandfather, when she could finally go to her first day of school. A day she had been waiting for ever since she received her first book in Kindergarten. The one, in which a young girl was telling about her adventures during school time.

Now, all she remembered of that day, that technically should have been one of those milestones in life everybody had been talking about, was the pain she had seen in the faces of her mother and grandmother. The only feelings she had experienced was the ones of coping with bereavement and loss where happiness and exhilaration were supposed to be filling up her small frame.

Third, the strange and uncommon emotions spreading through her chest and stomach, making her extremities wobbly and her head light, like that first time she drank too much of grandma's wine out of that secret depot under the old woman's bed. As distinguished from the drunken night back then, the headache, which went hand in hand with consuming too much of the red liquid, wouldn't come.

Instead a warmth and unfamiliar strong feeling of elation were filling in the blanks of her inner fragmentation every time Lauren would see her co-worker or talk to her. At some point, simply thinking about her and the way her hair falls or her smile seemed to lighten up the already bright day even more, let her heart do awkward things like speeding up or missing a beat here and there.

The guitar riffs whirring aimlessly around the still disorganized amalgamation of dreaming and drifting back into reality. With every breath, the quiet sounds were growing more and more aware to her barely conscious form.

A chime broke through the melodic notes of the music in her head. A light gong trying to get her attention. Inhaling deeply, Lauren stirred awake slowly, leaving that place of hope. A place in which she could actually live those unfulfilled wishes and undisclosed desires.

Her right hand was leaving its shelter from underneath the soft pillow. In slow motion gliding across the mattress. The next part of Lauren's body, that managed to find its way out of the rabbit hole of deep sleep was her right leg, bending her knee only to stretch it a second later. Her feet flexed and twisted a few times before coming to rest again.

Another of those outlandish habits of hers. Before she would open her eyes to greet the first lights of dawn, she needed to feel her system as a whole.

Feel all of its multifarious and sophisticated parts coming to life again.

Feel the newly gained connection of body, mind and soul.

Feel the pain of laying in one position for too long fading away, leaving that warm burning sensation deep within the musculature, which would disclose the brain, still negotiating with the unconscious mind whether to fully wake up or stay in those uncharted worlds behind closed eyes, the battle had been lost for awhile now.

Lauren's forefinger and thumb came up to her right ear to unplug the earphones. The intruding gong was now clear and unmistakable.

Her alarm clock.

Reaching to her nightstand without opening her eyelids just yet, she came into contact with an unfamiliar surface. Groping around the item, she tried to remember what had been laying atop the small cupboard, when she had gone to bed yesterday. Nothing compared to those hard edges forming at the end of smooth surfaces underneath her fingertips.

Curiosity won over that lousy attempt of unraveling the riddle. Lauren popped open her right eye first. Looking at a box with a print on the front she had seen a hundred times since staying in that motel. Her head moved itself off of the fluffy cushion and even her left eye wanted to see the revealed secret in front of her.

With a frown on her face, the chime of the alarm long forgotten, Lauren sat up fully and slit to the edge of her bed legs dangling above the floor, placing her feet on the slippers next to the frame.

"Where are you coming from?"

One look across the room, she made sure that there was no companion staring back at her. That there wasn't anyone watching her in one of the most intimate situations, stalking from one of the corners of the opposite wall. Slightly tense she locked her gaze on the small box, when she made sure, she was all alone. Next, the paper cup in its holder where that all too familiar scent came from she must have sensed earlier and back to the box yet again.

The alarm went silent, preparing itself for a second try a few minutes later.

Her right foot was flip flopping an unsteady rhythm while the blonde took a hold on the lid of the object she eyed suspiciously. With her head ducked, she opened a slit and peeped into the box.

When her eyes landed on its content they lit up and a small smile made its way across her features. Carefully, the blonde withdrew the cupcake out of its secure-container.

"What have we here, huh? You delicious looking goody, you. Who brought you into my motel room?"

Her smile widened even more. She knew who had taken the trouble to get her that fabulous piece of heaven. The ones who were aware of the date and its special occasion had been Lauren herself, her mother, who wasn't in town, yet, and her father, who wouldn't even call or at least send an email to her account, which she hadn't once changed in ages.

Aside from her family, there was this other person, the only one who could have been thoughtful enough to care. The one that came into Lauren's life just a few weeks ago and occupied that large and former very lonely, very empty space inside her heart and mind since the very beginning.

Bo Dennis.

Admiring the cupcake for another second with sparkling eyes and a pleasant fuzzy feeling deep down inside her chest, squeezing her engine, strongly beating on the left, she put it back into the box safely adjusting the lid back down. She would keep it there to share it with her co-worker later that day.

With the bitter taste of morning breath on her tongue, she reached for the paper cup. Opening the cap to reveal its malty, burnt scent, filling the air all around her. She took a deep breath through her nostrils to devour every bit of it. The black liquor was still warm and her dry throat craved for its fine sour arabica flavor. Taking a few sips she got up and placing the cup back into the holder when she went for the bathroom.

Feeling the cold water on her wrists and smelling the soft scent of the honey soap filling the small room, she looked up into the mirror. Light brown eyes were staring back at her. Eyes, which held a glow that she had a hard time recognizing as her own pair. A small smile tagging on her lips and for a second she was just standing there, with water dropping along her stilled hands, capturing the moment of new found happiness.

Maybe this birthday wouldn't turn out to be a total disaster. Maybe she could actually enjoy herself today. And maybe, just maybe she'd receive a different kind of birthday kiss.

After brushing her teeth with her favorite spearmint flavor, she placed her iPod on the docking station. Searching for the right music to start the day with, she tipped on the display. Satisfied, a final push of her thumb and a playlist came into view. Today she felt all Charts-like. Turning up the volume she strolled towards her closet.

She had a framework. For everything. She needed some consistency in her life. Things that were clear and wouldn't necessarily be analyzed over and over again to make sense, because that had happened long time ago, ending up with this well organized system.

Sorted in type of clothing, for example shirt or hoodie, then in light and warm, then black and white or color, then type of occasion, means formal or casual. Even her socks and underwear were in line and row.

The blonde didn't need much time to think about her outfit. Although she had to change on set anyways, she wanted to look presentable. Maybe more than presentable. The blonde was looking for something to make a lasting impression.

It was easy to count those times, when Lauren had felt the urge to dress up. Four fingers and one thumb, counting finished. This urge rumbling inside her stomach now, pushing aside all these other feelings. She never meant to woo. Always thought of wooing as the most stupid and embarrassing way to show affection. What if the person you tried to get to look at you would laugh and make fun of you. Or worse, simply say, that they were sorry but they didn't feel the same, saying that it would be for the better to just go separate ways from now on?

So she had never tried until now.

Her head filled up with images of last night. The way Bo was stealing glances when they went to that bar. How her brown hair tangled on her shoulders and swirled in the air with every circle they made while dancing. That smile, making Lauren all dizzy and those deep and soulful brown eyes, telling stories the blonde couldn't decipher from time to time but becoming clearer with every touch lingering a bit longer on the blonde's skin or standing side by side just a bit closer to whisper in one another's ear.

She saw her own emotions behind the curtain of friendship reflecting back at her. The longing, the need to be near, to feel, to smell, to hear.

She wasn't blind. Reading people had been one of her hobbies back in school. It was easy. Most of the time, that was. As long as she wasn't involved, she could expose liars by studying their mimic and reveal one's true colors by analyzing the change of tune in their voices. But as soon as attention would be projected in her direction, she felt that animal like instinct to flee and hide.

Putting on her favorite white V-neck shirt and that tight black jeans, which accentuated her long legs and tugged on just the right spots, Lauren hummed with the song playing in the background. The song text making her smile grow extra-wide.

 _Oh don't you dare look back_

 _Just keep your eyes on me._

 _I said your holding back,_

 _She said shut up and dance with me!_

 _This woman is my destiny_

 _She said oh oh oh_

 _Shut up and dance with me*_

Swirling around the room she sang along. Well, someone's chipper today.

Her hair was a bit curly after her short shower of last night. But she hadn't felt the need to dry them before getting into bed. So she simply brushed and adjusted it. Good thing her tresses would fall naturally anyways. One thing she actually liked of herself.

Deciding to put on some light rouge and mascara, because on set she would get all her make up done and remembering the last time she got herself ready, it hadn't been the best of choices to make. It ended up with a frustrated make-up artist called Mariah and a lot of breathing to find her inner middle again because of the multiple ways Mariah had asked Lauren, how stupid one person could be. All the while the blonde thought about how much time it could possibly take to bring some color on somebody's face. Mariah should have concentrated more on doing her job than yelling in four different languages.

One last look in the mirror, she smiled again. When had she been that buoyant the last time?

A knock on the door pulled her out of that little time travel.

"Shit."

Looking around, she saw nothing but chaos, although it wasn't that bad, for Lauren it felt like exposing herself, if anyone had come into her room right now.

The doors of her closet still wide opened, revealing her enthusiasm for extraordinary diligence of labeling, sorting and organizing everything. The cup of coffee, almost empty, changed places several times during getting more than presentable. Her bed a mess of sheets and cushions sloppily left undone after getting up. Her usual routine went into spin the moment her hand met this lovely and carefully arranged birthday surprise on her nightstand. There was no place for thoughts of cleaning up in her mind and no space for feelings like the persistent demand her inner voice would scream about, telling the blonde to neaten the pandemonium all around.

The only thing running through her body, climbing into her head and expanding with every minute that went by, was the tingle of wings against the inner walls of her stomach. At some point a bunch of butterflies made a home inside the blonde's belly, unperceived. Unaware of how they had gotten there, but sure enough of the first time she had felt this tickle rumoring inside.

At first it made her uncomfortable. Having such results because of feelings she had never had for another person. That one time, when young thirteen year old Lauren saved enough money to buy a ticket for that stage play of Goethe's Faust in the small theater in town, there had been tickles too. A lot actually. She had been nervous and happy and exited and a bit scared because of all those men and women watching her sitting alone in her best Christmas dress. But, if she had been honest, the things she registered now, couldn't be compared to the heartstrings for Goethe or Homer or Shakespeare or any other brilliant minded being.

Her brain worked like a museum. Everything was archived and cataloged in neatly arranged sections, numerated in year, day and places. So of course she remembered this first wave of strong emotions.

It had begun when she entered the waiting room, script in hand. About twenty women were sitting on chairs and the floor. A light murmur echoed back from the walls. Then the door to the audition opened and revealed another woman with long brunette hair, walking out of the darker space behind her into the light coming from the window on the other side of the waiting area. The voices former filling the air lapsed into silence.

Lauren looked up from the words she was repeating the hundredth of times to fall upon the most expressive chocolate brown orbs she had ever laid eyes on. Stunned she could only stand and stare until those eyes broke the connection almost shyly searching the floor at the brunette's feet.

A moment later Lauren shook her head and tried to make some room at her left for this woman now coming up next to her. The scent of lavender mixed with something new, something different made its way into her cognition. Her eyelids became heavy all of a sudden and her knees had a hard time to carry her body anymore. She didn't even realize the noises inside the room sparking off anew. The only voice her ears could discern was the one next to her.

"Hi. You here to speak for the role of Rogue, too?"

Turning around to face the velvet like voice's owner, Lauren's eyes couldn't find a spot to look at and so her gaze just dropped sporadically on the brunette's lips, eyes, cheeks, the sheet of paper in her own hands, the wall she was leaning against. Her mouth tried to form words. Articulation had never been that hard before.

"I-uh-I..."

"Ah I see. Ira it is."

The woman pointed on the sheets Lauren held in a tight grip, with the part she had to perform later on.

"I was scared for a moment, that I might have wasted my time here."

"Yes and no. I think I wouldn't fit into the role of Rogue as good as you would."

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, I'm not in the slightest bit dark or sexy."

"So you think I am sexy?"

Yet again, Lauren was searching for a fix point. Wall, cheeks, sheets in hand... Why couldn't she just keep her mouth shut or at least _think_ before speaking?

"No, I..."

"So I'm not sexy?"

A smirk across the brunette's face, that Lauren's whiskey brown orbs focused on way too long, grew into a toothy grin. In that moment, those small waves of wings in her belly had started. Forcing herself to look away, the blonde heard a giggle coming from the woman her whole system had been very busy to memorize the tiniest piece of. Her scent, her voice, her smile, her very appearance.

"I'm just a bit of a joker. Don't take me too seriously. So, uhm- I'm Bo. Bo Dennis."

Still smiling the brunette was holding up her hand. Lauren looked back at her with a shy smile of her own and welcoming the gesture although she knew that smear infections weren't funny but nonetheless the blonde couldn't fight the strong pull from the inside to touch the brunette's skin anyway possible.

"Lauren Lewis. Nice to meet you Bo Dennis."

The first touch they had shared. It had been like nothing she had ever felt before.

 _Knock knock knock_

Lauren rushed across her room. Closing the closet, making the bed, throwing away that paper cup in the trash next to the small table beneath the window and finally she was standing in front of the door. A soothing breath, she looked around to scan her belongings for the last time before opening the door with a smile on her face.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear, sweet, long-time-nowhere-to-be-seen, Lauuuureeeeen. Happy Birthday to you."

The high pitched voice let Lauren's face freeze for a second and the blonde had to find her own speech again.

"M- Mum. Hey. You're- uh- You're early."

A woman in her fifties wearing red leather pants and a tight white shirt with a lot of cleavage was staring back at her. Her black hair in a tight bun with heavy makeup around her light brown eyes and deep red colored lips. She tried too hard to keep aging at bay. Even with all the masking one could still see the years had gone by.

"Is that the way to greet your mother? Give me a hug, sweetheart!"

With that the black haired woman launched forward, pressing herself into the blonde's flabbergasted form. Holding on tightly she pressed her painted lips upon Lauren's left cheek. The feeling of slightly wet and sticky lipstick on the actress' skin made her flinch.

"It's so good to see you again. It feels like ages since we last saw each other."

Pulling away, the mother scrutinized her daughter from head to toe, turning the blonde slight from left to right and tucked some soft curls lovingly behind her ear.

"You look good my dear. I've missed you."

Rose spoke up in a low voice. Her eyes filling up with unshed tears, straightening herself up again she released the hold on her daughter.

"It's good to see-"

"Rose, they say, that there is no room left and we- Oh heeey. This must be the birthday girl?"

A boyish faced man, looking like one of those male-models coming right out of the new Hollister catalog, found his way up to Lauren's front door. His dirty blond hair styled perfectly, shimmering of the gel creating that wet-look. Green eyes were staring at her.

He walked up to Lauren and pulled her into a tight hug. His muscular form pressed against Lauren with his hand running down her shoulders to her lower back. She froze in the embrace. Her own arms on either side of her body, hands clutching at the fabric of her jeans as the way his fingers lingered just above the swell of her derriere felt way too intimate for two people who had just met and not even been introduced for that matter, let a space-loving Lauren shift uncomfortably on the spot.

Another squeeze and the young man stepped back just to slid his now free right arm around her mother's waist.

"Oh, Lauren? This is Brain."

Lauren just nodded, not yet able to form a proper greeting, needing time to process what was happening right now.

"Uhm-"

Looking at the porch, the blonde only now realized the two pink and yellow hard protective cases waiting to be picked up again.

"Rose, honey, this witch at the reception wouldn't give us a room. Said this- _establishment_ is all rented by some film production team. Why would anyone rent a whole motel? And let alone some motel looking like _this_!"

His nose scrunched when he looked past the irritated blonde and into her shabby motel room. Rose waved her hands and walked into the room, shoving Lauren away from the door way and sat down on the bed. Brain followed slowly, seemingly disgusted but smirking mischievously when he passed the blonde way too close.

"Well, that means we have to stay with Lauren. We could buy one of those inflatable mattresses so that-"

"You want to stay? But- uhm..."

Lauren turned to face the two, both now seated on her bed. On her cheek, a red lipstick mark shining proudly. She felt her guts twisting. It would have been a hard situation to share her room with just her mother, remembering the last time they went on vacation together in Collingwood, Ontario.

It should have been hiking and biking and just enjoy their time with each other, but ended up with fighting.

Lauren the organized one, making up schedules and plans for the days and her mother acting like some teenager leaving clothes where she had taken them off and couldn't clean up any of those priceless beauty products. It had been shortly before Rose moved to England to live there permanently. This way they wanted to feel close again, but it had been a disaster.

Thoughts running wild in the actress' head. Watching the scene in front of her. Brain had wrapped Rose in a tight hug, running his giant hands up and down her back and sides before kissing her with passion, earning a moan from the dark haired, mid-fifties woman. Lauren tried to look away when suddenly his eyes popped open again, focusing on her with that hunting shimmer and a wink. He continued to stare when he grabbed her mothers buttocks.

The heck would Lauren share her room with this ape of a man.

A soft knock on the door startled the three and forced the two lovers to break away from each other.

"Hey Lauren, I was wondering where you have been so long? The team is waiting for you. Our first shooting is about to start in half an hour."

The blonde's co-worker made her way inside the room, looking from the two lipstick smeared faces back to Lauren's.

"Bo? Uhm- I, I was about to get going, when my mother surprised me with her early visit."

Looking at the small alarm clock she had yet to turn off, four blue numbers were shining back at her lecturingly, telling her, that she hadn't just overslept but was running late about twenty minutes.

Her eyes flew over the pair sitting on her bed. Both looking suspiciously at the brunette. Brain seemed like he would drool any minute.

Lauren's hands turning into tight fists when she followed his gaze that let her directly onto her co-worker's assets.

Bo wasn't dressed in her character's outfit just yet, but wore one of those black leggings, she had told Lauren, she found most comfy and felt highly sexy with, matched with a long dark green cotton button down shirt, highlighted with a broad black belt showing off her perfect formed frame.

Anger turned into a warm feeling spreading along Lauren's chest and those tickling insects started to rumor inside her again when their gazes locked on each other. Although Bo's face showed an almost non-existing amount of make-up, Lauren had never seen anything as astonishing as the brunette now standing right next to her. Lavender lingered in the air around her head and the scent of Bo's shampoo waved along with every breath she took. They looked at one another with an intensity that boiled Lauren's blood within seconds.

Staring down on those smiling lips, reminding the sweet taste of the brunette's tongue upon hers, Lauren got lost in a whole different world. The one she had been dreaming of right before waking up. The one she found herself in last night while dancing chest to chest. The one she couldn't get enough of and could drown in easily without hesitation until her lungs filled up with everything Bo.

A shrill beeping broke the moment and forced the actresses to step back inside the reality which was sitting in front of them, watching suspiciously. Blinking several times, Lauren made her way up to the nightstand. Next to the cupcake box her alarm clock had managed to make itself noticeable after long period of screaming loudly and a few repeats of yelling angrily, that the time to get up had been past long time ago. Saying something like 'I told you to get up'.

Pressing the button Lauren gulped noisily to free her throat from the tight grip of embarrassment. She hadn't intended to get caught in the first meeting of the woman she couldn't keep from thinking of for a long time now. Especially not in front of her mother and Brain's ogling eyes .

She had seen that luscious look on his face directed at Bo. Who could have blamed him? Her co-worker was stunning and breathtaking and all those things people write songs about. But nonetheless a strong urge shot up from deep inside. She had never wondered before, how her fist would feel after punching somebody's nose, several times, with all force and strength she had.

An at other times tiny voice, shyly announcing her dislike, was growing into a grizzly bear growling deeply.

' _One word, one touch, one more lingering look and I swear to God..'_

She wasn't able to finalize her train of thoughts when she felt Bo's hand on her forearm a soothing look in her eyes. She must have seen Lauren's struggle. Gently pulling the blonde back into the middle of the room Bo spoke up.

"Hey, I'm Bo Dennis and you must be Rose Lewis, Lauren's Mum? She talks a lot about you. It's nice to finally meet the mother of this incredible actress."

Leave it to Bo to get the tension out of a scene and turn it into something casual and easy. Shaking hands with the dark haired woman, Lauren could take a deep breath for the first time since that all changing knock on her door. A small hint of a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"It's Rose Delanneau. I changed it after the divorce. That's my unmarried name. And it is nice to meet you, too. Lauren told me a lot about you, too."

Still holding hands, Bo fixed her eyes on the blonde again. An electric spark protruded form her deep brown eyes into the room to settle upon the reddened face of her former dance partner.

"Did she now? All good things I hope."

Bo made her way back to the side next to Lauren. All the way never once leaving her gaze upon those whiskey brown orbs.

"I'm Brain."

The young man stood up, holding his hand for Bo to shake. The brunette made a quick move with her left hand without so much as looking at him, when she instead grabbed at Lauren's forearm again.

"Yes, so we have to get to work now. But it would be nice if we had the chance of getting to know each other better."

Bo turned back to Rose, smiling brightly.

"Maybe have dinner? Celebrating the birth of my lovely co-worker?"

Brain moved the hand he was stretching out into his hair. This man surely wasn't used of being ignored. Satisfaction hovered above the still intense emotion inside the blonde.

A light dragging at Lauren's arm, Bo walked to the still open door, waiting for her to come.

"Yes, uhm- Mum, _Brian_... I have to go, but we can meet up at lunch break and talk about- the sleeping situation."

"Well, honey, work is work. So I guess, we'll see you later."

Standing up, Rose walked up to hug Lauren again.

"Happy birthday, sweety and have a good day."

"Thanks, Mum."

Releasing her grip, Lauren moved to the door. The thought of leaving those two in her room left a bitter taste on her tongue.

Closing the door, Lauren had to lean against the cold wood because of her inner tumult bursting yet again. A warm hand caressed her right cheek.

"Hey, you okay?"

Looking up, Lauren forced a half smile. For a second they just stood there looking at each other. Bo's thumb was stroking slowly across the blonde's cheekbone.

"You are amazing!"

"Yes, I am!"

Chuckling, Lauren felt lighter than before.

"No, I mean it. You saved me in there. I almost puked on that Brain guy when he ravished my mother. And that look in his eyes when he was staring at me, staring at you, I-"

"Yeah, I would have loved to see you go all Vitali Klitschko on him, but for the sake of your birthday, I guess a red lipstick mark and a birthday hat wouldn't fit to orange. Although I've heard it's the new black."

Bo's fingertips of her right hand brushed against the sticky space upon Lauren's other cheek.

"Come on. Let's get that off of you and start the day. Okay?"

Lauren didn't want that moment to end. With Bo's skin on her skin she thought nothing could go wrong. When Bo was about to withdraw her hand and fingertips off of her, she took them in her own hands, holding tightly between their bodies.

"Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me."

"Yes I have. For staying in my corner all the time. For- forcing me to do silly things and having a bit of fun in my life."

Lauren took in a deep breath. Her eyes searching Bo's.

"For making me feel like I fit in perfectly. For telling me jokes and making me laugh, although I think Jonathan would love to shoot a scene or two without us fooling around."

They shared a laugh until Lauren grew serious again.

"Thank you, for that birthday night. I've never had so much fun and felt so good on my birthdayday. And thank you for that cupcake, even though I don't know how you managed to walk into my motel room and I think this is kind of creepy."

Bo laughed again.

"I am not creepy! You left your door open. And, my dear, I think we should talk about you being so mindless with security advises. I know you read the motel notebook first thing after settling in."

"Well, I might have been a little- preoccupied with other thoughts."

Smirking Lauren was getting bolder. Hand in hand, eyes fixed on eyes, she leaned in a bit more.

Her left hand released Bo's and made its way up to the brunette's neck. Mouth slightly ajar the blonde moved forward. Hovering a second so that if Bo wanted to escape she could but stayed where she was. Smiling Lauren brushed her lips like a whisper across those inviting one's, waiting patiently for what was to come.

A loud fit of laughter and a animal like growl from the inside of Lauren's room startled them. They could hear Lauren's mother's voice talking about a tiger and how she wanted to be its prey. Disgusted Lauren drew back, letting go of Bo's hands, laying her head against the door with her eyes closed.

"Oh my God! Please! Don't tell me that they- and in my bed? Oh boy."

Bo giggled lightly brushing over Lauren's curly hair resting on her shoulder.

"Well, maybe you might have a real reason for changing your sheets tonight, Laur. Now, come on. Let's go. As much as I have loved to see your face after that, I really don't wanna be a witness of your Mum getting lucky."

Lauren shot up, punching Bo's arm lightly, laughing all the while.

"Stop it, Bo Dennis. Gosh. Here I am, complimenting you and you are benefiting my discomposure. You are evil!"

Bowing her eyebrows Bo took hold on Lauren's hand again, pulling her along the path to the make-up artists. She really needed to get rid of this lipstick mark.

 _*Song: Shut up and Dance by Walk the Moon_


	6. Chapter 6

**So, yet again it took me some time but now here it is. I hope you like that new chapter. There'll be another one within the next 24h I guess. So, keep your eyes open.**

 **A big fat THANK YOU to _FreeingTheWriterWithin_ for helping me out here. (If you haven't noticed her story yet, well, let's say you should definitely read it ;)**

 **I don't own Lost Girl**

* * *

Chapter 6 _ **  
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 **Bo's POV**

The damp and muggy air fogged the cold window front inside the tiny room. A small droplet searched zigzag-ways along the plain surface, leaving a thin and unsteady line across the steamed up pane of glass. The sound of water running in the shower, a rhythmical tapping on the cracked tub, filled the silence of the four flagged walls.

One hand placed flat on the wall the other holding onto the steel armature with a firm grip. Slowly lifting her head to bath her face in the hot steam, she opened her mouth. Her dark strands floated along the outlines of her cheeks and jaw to rest on her upper back, soaked with dribbles. The soft spray caressed her skin, shimmering in the bright shine of the uplighter.

It wasn't supposed to turn out like that.

The day started with an enthusiastic fist pump in the air and ended with an equally rhapsodical fist pump under that dimwit's right side of his cheekbone. A right hook to wash away that filthy, priggish grin on his boyish face he wore the entire time.

She didn't mean to smite him.

To be honest, she had wanted to. Really hard. The very first two minutes she had seen him wearing that look upon his face sitting on that bed, in that room, kissing that other woman while staring at _that_ blondewoman of all people, standing uncomfortably in the middle of the room.

But she wanted to maintain control in front of her co-worker.

However she failed. Worst of all, with the training she went through, her moves had grown more precise, more painful, more- bone crushing.

Her handhold tightened even more around the poor valve. Bruises on her knuckles like some silent reminder of the events. A small gasp escaped her still open lips as she turned off the hot water with a twist of the armature. A freezing cold, almost ice like fountain wiped away the train of thoughts.

Seconds passed by with her standing motionless in the steam, skin turning from bright red, to white, to light red again.

When the chatter of her teeth and the shiver all over her back forced her to step out of the water, she opened her eyes.

"Dash it, Bo! You're so stupid!"

Covering her head with both hands, she sobbed silently. Anger was biting her insides asunder. It was hard to suppress the tears running down her cheeks, dwindling away in the sea of wetness already jacketing her face.

Snuffling, she brushed them away. Those intruders. She hated to lose control like that. It happened all the time when she was fighting the inferno boiling inside her guts. A storm of indignation of her actions, fury about her losing her cool and frustration about the fact, that she had just destroyed any opportunity to get further through to that gorgeous blonde who had opened up to her ever so slowly.

That thin bond, that light trust, all they had built up since they had met the first time. All stomped on in one single moment. And she couldn't even explain herself or the scene. She could only imagine what it must have looked like.

"Hargh!"

The palm yet again glued to the wall, clenched into a tight fist, hammering against one of the ugly brown flags, with a muffled clang.

A few soothing breaths later, she turned off the shower and stepped into the small bathroom. The floor was cold and slippery underneath her bare, wet feet. Grabbing the towel from its place on a hook at the door, she wrapped herself into the soft fabric.

One last step forward and she was standing in front of the mirror, staring at the outlines of her reflection. The fogged surface blurred the picture she was looking at. With one swift move of her hand, she wiped a clear stripe diagonally all the way from the corner down left to the one on the right side at top.

Her body was covered in goosebumps as she didn't mind to fight the fine curtain of water still covering her tired form.

The white of the brunette's eyes, now painted in a light touch of red around the pupils. All the stressful rubs and the tears of grievance shown on her weary face. Strands of dark hair hanging loosely over her naked shoulders. The split-ends dripping into the woven barrier across her chest. Dampening the gray cotton, which once had been white, before all those years of use and a great amount of washing and drying turned its shine into something old and battered.

Leaning forward, hands on either side of the sink, she took a closer look at her languid features. Brown pools of deep sadness following every twist and turn of her head.

Her mind drifted off again. Trying to roam around anything but Lauren. Five, maybe ten seconds, and the cold porcelain underneath her fingertips changed into the feeling of the blonde's soft, warm skin. The woman in the mirror staring back at her vanished, and transformed into her co-actress with those bright whiskey brown eyes, wearing one of those shy smile on her rose, luscious lips. The blonde didn't even know about the alluring effect that smile had on Bo.

Bo sighed, shaking her head. Suddenly the bathroom seemed a lot smaller. An invisible belt lacing around her neck tightly. It became harder to swallow that big lump making itself a home inside her throat. Her hand reached to open the window on the wall next to where she was holding herself upright on the sink, breathing heavily.

Walking back into the main room she slipped into her night shirt and shorts, laying on the couch next to a pile of dirty clothes, sheets of paper and her untouched dinner from yesterday. Looking at the mess, she shrugged and let herself fall face first on the mattress of her king size bed. Her wet tresses moistening the sheets around her head in an instant.

Thoughts of the day pressed their way through the rumbling wheels inside her head to settle themselves between memories of all the little things she had become addicted to.

All the little things about _her_.

The smell of her blonde tresses and the feeling, when she was allowed to let them glide lightly over her hands. Touching the silk-like skin, and the tickling sensation of delight when brushing the brunette's fingertips over the soft, small hairs of exposed flesh. Those colorful eyes, she was getting lost in so easily. In their shine and soulfulness.

And about all of the different ways Lauren smiled.

The shy ones, the blonde tried to hide. The sincere ones, Bo knew, were only directed at her. Even the fake ones, which turned into so much more when they found each other's gazes in a room full of people.

A grunt escaped her lungs when her bruised knuckles accidentally brushed against the counterpane.

It just wasn't supposed to end up like that!

After leaving the motel complex, Bo and Lauren went to the set hand in hand. They shared quiet chuckles and chatted about various things. It was light, warm and comfy, and the blonde seemed to be more relaxed than Bo had ever had the chance to see her being before.

Their fingers entwined and brushed along one another more than once. The brunette's thumb caressed her co-worker's back of her hand every now and then. They shared long and intense gazes. Bo's belly tumbled and it felt like falling off of a cliff with every look, every touch, every twitch of lips of the woman next to her. Her heart was pounding rapidly faster with just the tiniest squeeze of the blonde's hand around her own.

Bo found herself in that magical rainbow bubble-like reality. Blurred at the outlines and easy to burst into a soapy blotch on the concrete.

The closer they got to their destination, the more she felt Lauren rebuilding her defensive walls around herself. Bo didn't want to be shut out again, so she pulled the blonde's hand once and stopped walking.

Lauren turned around, frowning questioningly.

"What's up, Bo?"

The brunette moved a bit closer, looking down on their hands, still joined into one.

"Bo?"

The blonde tried to catch her eyes. Searching for answers on the face of the nervous looking ballerina.

"I- uh, I..."

Bo's eyes roamed along the blonde's shirt. Taking in every curve and wrinkle all the way up to her collarbone, wetting her lips with the tip of her tongue. She forced her eyes to continue their path along the slender neck, to the spot where the throat changed into the fine line of her jaw. Dancing over those very kissable lips, when she finally managed to lock her eyes with the most sincere and most caring hazel orbs, she had ever seen.

Still unsure of the choice of words Bo started to fumble with the blonde's fingers still entwined with her own, she had held tightly seconds before, until soothing fingertips placed light touches on the inside of the brunette's wrist.

"Bo?"

Something had changed in her co-worker's gaze as Bo saw a rush of fear clouding over the features of the other woman's face. Taking a deep breath the brunette smiled reassuringly. Placing her free hand on the red mark on Lauren's cheek and spoke up, her voice quavering lightly.

"I just wanted to tell you, that- uhm- that you're really beautiful today."

Cracking into a wide smile Lauren embraced the caressing sensation upon her face with her own hand, turning her head slightly to place a soft kiss to the brunette's palm, never loosing eye contact.

"Today?", Lauren whispered with a shy smile.

"Well, you are beautiful all the time, but today, you seem to shine somehow. It's hard to describe, it's- it makes you look even brighter and more content. You look- happy, Lauren."

Watching the blonde reaching out to brush a strand of dark hair behind her ear.

"This is the best birthday I've ever had. _You_ make it the best birthday I've ever had."

Bo smiled, stroking the sticky lipstick mark. Swallowing the words she wanted to say, evading the pressure to just spit it all out. Spit out that Lauren made her happy, too. That she was the only thing on her mind for a very long time now. That she wanted to kiss her so desperately that it left her out of breath, and hungry to be touched, most of the time they were as much as in the same room. That there wasn't one night hidden behind the curtains of darkness, where she hadn't been dreaming about all those things she couldn't say or do, while facing the light of day.

No she couldn't share those secrets. It wasn't the time. Not now. Not yet.

Looking into each other's eyes, Bo fought against the emotions that were surfacing, playing havoc with her rational brain. Her eyelids fluttered by the thought of the pictures her mind had created last night. It had felt astonishingly realistic. It had always been intense, those moments she had nun herself out of the world around her, to dive into the depth of her desires, the brunette withdrew herself as long as possible. Desires she wanted to forget because the last time she had acted on them, her heart had been broken. Badly and with a long term effect.

Most of the time when she was dreaming it felt like watching TV, zapping through the channels. Scene-like segments of a movie. Only seconds before moving from one image to another, while it felt like standing in thick fog, not seeing clearly, but good enough for her brain to solve the riddle and piece together the puzzle, to reproduce the whole picture.

Like reading a word that didn't make any sense because letters were replaced or exchanged, her mind formed the right meaning without the need of order. All she needed was fix points at the beginning and at the end, to recreate that word written in front of her.

But last night. Last night had been as if she was living that dream. She could feel the fingertips on her skin, smell the unique scents she had grown more and more addicted to and taste that salty sweet flavor on her lips, after kissing bare shoulders or cheeks.

Clearing her throat, Bo struggled to regain her composure, shaking her head slightly to wash away the upcoming heat. She needed distraction.

"You're- uh- you're Mum is nice, but that egghead she brought with her, I don't know... he-"

Lauren rolled her eyes.

"Don't get me there."

The blonde turned to her left slightly, while laughing.

"So, you coming or...?"

Lauren was about to walk on when Bo, once again, took her co-worker's hand in hers. The brunette's mind on overdrive while looking at her co-worker, seeing her so cheerful and joyous, left a tingle in her chest.

When Lauren turned back around, mouth slightly open to say something, Bo took a deep breath and stepped into the other woman's personal space, letting go of the blonde's hand, cupping her red marked cheek instead. Her other hand grabbed at the white shirt she was observing minutes before and pulled her close, pressing their bodies together more firmly.

All of her strength and willpower that kept her from acting on her feelings had born down and the pressure became inevitable to withstand anymore. In one swift move she placed her lips softly upon the actress' mouth in front of her.

Bo closed her eyes, touching the tender flesh. She stayed like that. Not wanting to move a muscle. Lips against lips. Hand on cheek. Tight grip on the white shirt. Standing on tiptoes. Hovering a few inches above Lauren.

Her heart was racing, her blood boiling. Without the alcohol clouding her senses, she could feel, smell, taste every piece that was Lauren Lewis. The actress, the co-worker, the friend. Her day-dream and night fantasy. It was even more intoxicating than any Tequila ever could have been. Lingering a few seconds longer, she slowly withdrew herself from the intensity that she wanted to be kept in forever.

Loosening the hold of her co-worker, she moved aside only to find herself being pulled back into a tight embrace. She felt Lauren's right arm around her shoulder and her left hand pressing against Bo's lower back, forcing the brunette to step into the warmth yet again, radiating from the both of them. The feeling of the blonde's lips on her own for the second time today. It nearly made her go coo-coo as she felt them slowly brushing along her willing mouth.

Melting into the moment, Bo let out a muffled groan, coming out of the depth of her chest.

Her hands slid down along toned shoulders over the sides of her chest, gliding gently across every rip, to the hollow of the blonde's hips, drawing caressing circles atop the woven fabric. She felt Lauren's lips move feathery upon her own. They danced over her bottom lip, capturing it in between. Bo's knees almost gave in when the tip of the blonde's tongue drew a thin line across the hot pink flesh.

Before the brunette could catch up, her brain totally out of order, Lauren pulled back, leaving Bo longing for more. She pressed her lips together tightly, savoring the last bit of their closeness. With her eyes still shut, Bo stepped out of the embrace because she knew if she didn't do it now, she would never escape her urge to throw herself into the blonde's arms again.

Her eyelids fluttered open and she was greeted by two piercing eyes staring back at her. Like watching a reflection in a mirror Bo saw the same lust screaming from the inside of her trembling form, in those light brown orbs of her co-worker.

"Wow." Bo breathed out, smiling like a drunken fool.

How could it all go so wrong so fast?

Shifting her head on the mattress, Bo breathed in heavily.

"Oh boy."

Her mind was playing with her sanity. Pictures of kissing the blonde, of holding hands, of sharing glances. Her body was acting like a horny teenager. Throbbing and burning and pleading for the brunette to give some release. Images of her. Images of the way she moved. Images of the ways she laughed. Images that made Bo angry again, for being so unheeding to put all of that into jeopardy.

She wasn't good at playing games, and even worse at games where luck was needed. She had been acting out of instinct tonight. The first time she had ignored those early warning signs, because she had wanted to be stronger than her inner Hulk. She had fought him a lot in her past, and she had thought she had won the battle, only to find herself all green with a heaving chest, blazing away at that douche, with her hatred filled fist.

After kissing the woman she desired, Bo was floating on cloud nine, flying around with a skip in every third to fifth step. It had been more than torture. That day, filming. Watching her co-worker from afar concentrated, and working in her role as Ira. Being all professional. Bo had nothing else on her mind than rushing over to continue what they had started earlier.

Hungry again, yet not for anything food could ever satisfy.

Every now and then, Lauren would look her way, holding gazes until yet again another crewmember had the guts to step into their line of sight.

With Bo's head being up in the air, she could barely focus on the job she was hired to do. Playing Rogue. Never had she ever been distracted like that. With Tamsin it had been intense, too, but she had always been capable of acting in front of the camera.

The scenes she had to shoot with Lauren had been the worst. Ira and Rogue. Watching the blonde being all rational, throwing formulas and Latin words into Bo's direction had left her speechless and Jonathan, their director, had to fill in the blank where Bo should have said anything but nothing, causing him to yell 'cut' more than once.

They had to skip midday break to stay on schedule. The shooting felt like an eternity when they finally wrapped it up.

"You'll come? Have dinner with us?" a quiet voice asked. A cool hand on her forearm, stopping her from moving away. Those shining light brown eyes once again. Looking at her, maybe right through to her very soul. Bo could only nod her head yes, proud that she had at least found the right spot in her goo-like brain, that was responsible for a simple act like nodding her head. That seemed like more than she could have dreamed of with her gorgeous co-worker almost pleadingly staring at her.

"I see you at eight?"

"I'd like that."

And with that they had parted ways to freshen up.

Rolling over on the mattress Bo looked up at the ceiling, counting the dirty sprinkles. She closed her eyes. After a few seconds she found herself back at the table next to Lauren, across from Brain who ogled openly. Bo was used to stares and glances and cat calls and men trying to hit on her, but she never felt as dirty as she felt with that surfer boy leering at her assets.

Every now and then his hand had found her knee under the table. She wanted to play it cool. She wanted that night to be all about Lauren. She wanted to cut those roaming hands off and kick her heels into their owner's junk. Deeply.

Halfway through the meal she had to excuse herself. She needed some time to find her inner middle again, before she'd do something she'd regret later. Lauren seemed so at least enjoy the time with her mother. Telling her all those news they weren't able to talk about. Catching up on each other's lives.

Bo watched her co-worker acting all natural and free. Watching the blonde in a way she barely let anyone else see.

So for the sake of all that was holy, Bo needed that time out and splash some cold water in her face. It took her less than five minutes to recover and to breathe away the anger flaring in her guts. A relaxation technique Jegor had taught her.

When she exited the bathroom, she almost crashed into the last person she wanted to be close to right now. Brain.

"There you are. I thought you would wait for me after our little foreplay."

"What?"

He took her by surprise when he forced her backwards and pushed his strong, muscular body against her own. The cold and hard frame of the restroom pressed into her spine painfully.

"Back off asshole!"

"Oh dirty talk! I thought you were into the hard way."

His sweaty hands caught her wrists and placed them over the brunette's head. Faces mere inches away. She could smell the red wine, in his puffy breath, which he had been drinking of too much of the entire evening. His lips moved to her throat. His tongue licking the way up to her left ear. He blew wet and hot air along her neck and whispered words against her hair. Sniffing his nose across her tresses, leaving her in shivers of disgust.

"You're a bad little girl, Bo."

His deep voice vibrating in his chest.

"Urgh!"

Bo couldn't free her arms. His grip tightened with every try. He changed position. His left elbow keeping her arms in place and his right hand tucking on the hem of her shirt. The second his fingers touched the bare skin of her hip bone, Bo kicked her right knee into his manhood. Crying out he stumbled backwards, right in time when her fist connected with his face with a cracking sound, Lauren's mother came around the corner to the small hallway leading to the women's WC.

"Oh my god Brain! Are you insane?"

Right behind Rose, the blonde appeared, watching the scene with a frown.

"What- what is going on? Bo?"

"That bitch attacked me!"

Brain was crouching on the floor. Holding his male privates with one and the left side of his face with the other hand. Bo herself was holding her painfully throbbing hand.

"She wanted to seduce me but I told her no and then she attacked me!"

"I did _what_?"

Shaking her head, her brown orbs were looking up to find insecure and hurt hazel ones staring back at her.

"Lauren, he is lying!"

Walking up at her co-worker, the brunette touched the other woman's upper arm but she flinched away.

"Don't!"

"Lauren?"

Glassy eyes avoided any contact with Bo's. Looking down to her mother and the man whining next to the bathroom door. Without another word, the blonde turned around and ran out of the restaurant. Reaching out, Bo's hand grasped at nothing.

"Lauren! Lauren stop!"

But her pleading words fell on deaf ears.

Bo sat up with a start. Looking around her motel room, she inhaled deeply, her chest heaving. The clock on the nightstand told her that she must have fallen asleep for at least an hour. Brushing through her hair, Bo crawled under the blankets. Her body weighing a ton and she could hardly keep her eyes open. She was about to switch off her nightstand light when a knock on the door froze her in tracks.

"Perfect!"

Groaning Bo heaved herself off of the still cold sheets. Another knock demanded for attention.

"Yes, I'm coming! Gosh! You know what time it is? That better be important, 'cause I'm definitely not in the mood to-"

She ranted all the way up to the door, to stop the second she opened up and saw a blonde woman, her arms wrapped tightly around herself, with sadness shown all over her face, nervously pacing back and forth, waiting at the porch.

"L- Lauren?"

"Hi."

"H-hey."

Staring mouth agape at her co-worker, who was looking from left to the right, dropping her gaze towards her own feet. Bo wanted nothing more than touch Lauren's cheeks and arms and embrace her and apologize.

"Lauren, I-"

"I'm sorry, it's late and you... I saw the lights on and I...but maybe you want to sleep and I-"

"No! No, it's fine! I'm glad you showed up, Lauren, I... You want to come in?"

Please say yes, was all Bo's eyes begged for when they finally locked with the blonde's. A small smile formed on the brunette's lips when she stepped aside to allow her co-worker to pass by. Closing the door they met in the middle of the room. An awkward silence was hanging uncomfortably in the air around them. Lauren was still holding herself and Bo started fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

"No SpongeBob this time, I see."

"Huh? Oh, my boxers? Yes, gotta change them every year and a half."

Bo tried to lighten the mood, but Lauren simply nodded. Sighing, the brunette spoke up.

"Lauren, listen, Brain and I, we-"

The blonde held her hand up in the air and shook her head no.

"Don't Bo."

"But..."

"No, I... After I left, I walked around for some time and when I came back inside you were all gone. The waitress told me that you left almost immediately after I stomped out and my Mum and Brain called a cab to the hospital."

Bo dropped her head, looking down on her fingers, fiddling along the rim of her shirt.

"Oh, hospital."

"Yes, you sure have some right hook."

A soft chuckle escaped both of them. Bo eyed the knuckles of her right hand. The red flesh slightly swollen.

"Is he okay?"

"I don't care."

Bo's head shot up, her eyes searching answers on the other woman's face. A light breeze of air, coming from the window next to the door, washed along her bare arms and legs, making the brunette shudder. Watching as the blonde took a step forward and reached out to carefully palm Bo's injured hand. Soft fingertips caressed the heated skin of the back. Both looked down. Lauren took a closer look at the bruises.

"The waitress also told me what really happened."

Lauren's eyes locked with Bo's, lightly stroking the brunette's hand with her thumb.

"I am so sorry Bo. I knew that you told the truth. That he was indeed lying, but something deep down inside of me, made me question you, made me question us. And I just needed fresh air and space, because the situation triggered something and all of a sudden my Dad penetrated my very thoughts and the way he treated my Mum and me and..."

Lauren took a deep breath. She broke eye contact and moved to sit down on the brunette's bed. Bo stood still. Watching, waiting. When Lauren's teary eyes finally found their way back to her, she strolled slowly to stand in front of the sitting woman. Reaching out she palmed the blondes left cheek.

"It's okay."

Shaking her head the blonde inhaled sharply.

"No it's not. I shouldn't have run away, I should have stayed, having your back and standing my ground."

Yet again Lauren's gaze dropped.

"Hey... look at me."

Caressing the blonde's cheek with her thumb, Lauren looked back up.

"Don't apologize. The only one who should feel sorry, is that butthead Brain, for ruining your birthday! And as much as my fist hurts now, it was totally worth it. God I wanted to crash his head against the headrest of your bed this morning, when I walked in your motel room and that twitching in my fingers hadn't stopped since. It was a relief to actually have an excuse to do just that, tonight. Also I wished for a different ending to what should have been your night."

A smile made its way to Lauren's face when she watched the grinning brunette.

"So, uhm, we're okay?", Lauren's voice uttered as a whisper.

With the question, the blonde's face turned serious again and her hazelnut orbs wouldn't look into Bo's chocolate ones, but instead found their way to a spot on the brunette's shirt.

"Lauren..."

Kneeling in front of her co-worker, Bo took her face in both hands, waiting for her to look back up, before she continued.

"We are more than okay. As for me we've never been anything but okay. And for the record, I should be the one hoping for you to forgive me, not the other way around. You heard me?"

The blonde nodded slowly.

"Good."

Leaning forward Bo pressed a light kiss upon the blonde's forehead.

"Bo?"

"Mhm?"

Forehead touching forehead.

"You really shouldn't kneel on that floor! Did you see all those colors that are on the formally white carpet? Please stand up! I can't stand it anymore."

Chuckling Bo released the grip on her co-worker and got up.

"I do have a question though."

Lauren stood up and walked around the room.

"What is it?"

Bo followed her until they met in the middle of the room once again.

Lauren looked down, shyly, not knowing what to do with her hands as they searched for a place to hold on to.

"Can, uh, can I stay with you for tonight?"

Looking up Lauren rumbled on.

"I mean, the couch is just fine with me. When I came over my Mum told me that they would be back within the next hour and I really, _really_ don't want to share my bed with my mother and her unfaithful lover, who will probably cry the whole night, because of that box fight he lost and I-"

"Lauren!"

"Yes?"

"It's okay. Of course you can stay. As for the couch? No, you won't sleep on that couch! It has even more gross and undefined stains than this floor. My bed is big enough for the both of us and- I swear I'll behave!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Oh wow, thank you for all those great reviews and your retweets on Twitter. The best thing when you wake up in the morning, checking your mail account and all those nice comments pop up.**

 **Okay, now here is the thing. This chapter is something very new to me. I've never written anything like that and I hope that I managed to transport all those feelings I wanted the reader to experience. I know it's a bit short and I'll give my best to write a longer one next time.**

 **Another big thanks to FreeingTheWriterWithin for helping me out and encourage me to post this and for her thoughts and ideas.**

 **Now, when you read this just keep in mind that it is a _first time_ (and not only for the characters).**

 **I don't own Lost Girl.**

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Chapter 7

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 **Lauren's POV**

A dim light peeked through a small gap the curtains let in, flowing with every wisp of wind from the window slightly ajar. The moon was shining proudly, showing off its deep crater on his full roundness, setting the right corner, opposite the door of the otherwise dark motel room, in its spotlight, like a floodlit stage.

A fresh breeze came across the room every now and then, to play with a T-shirt hanging loosely over the backrest of one of the chairs next to the bed. Not far away, the sound of leaves rustling broke the silence, screaming for attention.

Lauren was laying on her right side on the king size bed. Blanket up to her waist. Her bare arm laxly placed over her belly. Her right forefinger tapping pattern discontentedly on the hollow part of her waist. A nervous flicker inside her stomach had already gotten to her nerves minutes ago. She was staring at the wall, watching the shadows of branches from outside, dancing along the wallpaper.

She didn't know for how long she'd been laying there wide awake. Her mind was racing. Thoughts were streaming down her cliff-like mind. Bursting waterfalls of pictures and emotions wouldn't leave her alone. Colliding into white foam where angry waters of memories met the restless lake of her soul. The current pulled her under the surface and made it almost impossible to breathe. Every intake filled her lungs with oxygen; her body seemed to be unable to carry on.

The brunette right next to her, on the same bed, under the same sheets, wearing nothing but a shirt and boxers, didn't help at all to calm her juggling nerves.

The last twenty four hours left her gasping for air. A lot had happened.

Starting with the night out in the pub. The laughing and drinking. The dancing and that mind-blowing kiss that swept her heart away like a hurricane would do to a whole camping side. Then in the morning finding that surprise-cupcake on her nightstand, waiting there neatly arranged. She had never had the chance to actually eat it and the thought brought a new wave of vexation hastening inside her guts.

Memories navigating through the disaster of a dinner and her idiotic run far away out of the situation, to end their path with the walk up to her co-workers motel room, after a rather sulfurous conversation with her mother on the phone over the injuries of her bedtime candy, whose muffled cries could still be heard in the background.

Rose was furious, Lauren stayed matter-of-factly.

Rose yelled, Lauren hung up.

She hadn't done that before. Hanging up the phone, leaving the other end in mid sentence, but Rose had crossed a line Lauren wasn't aware of existed, until tonight.

She was lamenting about the violence that the furious brunette was displaying and she argued that Lauren shouldn't be associating with someone as aggressive as Bo Dennis.

Lauren was thinking that a blind man, or woman in that case, should not judge colors. She also felt an unfamiliar need to fight for her co-worker's honor.

Rose was still rambling on about her false portrayal of the former ballerina and Lauren's incapacity to socialize with normal people. Not entirely listening the blonde interrupted her mother's monologue, telling her that the keys to the motel room would be waiting for them at the reception. Before she disconnected the line and shut off her phone, she underlined the fact that she wanted the two of them to be gone first thing tomorrow with a low and clear voice.

Now here she was. Wondering how the night would have turned out if things had been different.

Sighing she shifted her arm from her belly up under the pillow, listening to Bo's steady breathing. The rhythmical inhale and exhale told her, that her co-worker must have fallen asleep, finally.

It was hard enough to share the bed space which was bigger than Lauren's kitchen in her single apartment, with the only woman the blonde couldn't get out of her mind for most of the day. But knowing that the brunette would lay there, just an arm's reach away, in all her glory and _awake_ , would have been just too much to take. It would have reduced the size of a kitchen into a nutshell within the blink of an eye.

Lauren closed her eyes, hoping for a little peace and quiet. Maybe if she tried to stop thinking and focused on flexing and relaxing single muscle parts, it would help her to drift off into something sleep-like. She needed to leave this crowded place inside her head. She couldn't stand being in her own mind any longer.

She concentrated on her breathing. Deep and slow for several intakes of air. Starting with her left calf, she moved the muscle. Then her left upper leg. Her mind collected the pieces the storm of thoughts had left behind. One by one. A whiff of heaviness climbed into her body. The first welcoming signs of the upcoming serenity she needed to crawl out of the tumult in her brain and into that one place where she could finally come to rest.

She was halfway over the edge of falling into her unconscious state when the mattress behind her shifted. A lazy hand brushed along her side and moved down along her ribcage to place itself on top of the blonde's sternum. At the same time Lauren felt a soft puff of hot air at the hollow of her neck.

Her co-worker pressed her front flat against the back of the blonde actress who was struggling to keep her heart from imploding inside her shockingly tense torso. The bare skin of the brunette's legs laid upon her own, sliding along her thighs until they found their final position tangled between Lauren's. A tingle rushed through her whole form. Every small hair all over Lauren's body was pulsating in excitement. The steady up and down of the chest leaning heavily on her back left her shivering.

A sudden yank vibrated through the brunette laying far too close now. A sharp intake of breath and the form behind the blonde tied up in knots, which only seconds ago seemed so at ease and relaxed.

"I- huh, I'm sorry, I..."

Bo's voice a whisper, husky and raw, blown upon her blonde hair. The hand, lingering warm and comforting on the blonde's sternum, moved away slowly.

"Don't."

Lauren reached for the brunette's hand, holding it in place.

"Lauren..."

Seconds passed with Lauren keeping her co-worker's warm palm from shifting further away. Her fingers tracing light pattern over the brunette's knuckles, trying to speak those words, which wouldn't leave her mouth in a silent plea. Breathing in shortly, a wave of warmth revived her clouded mind, spreading in her guts and caressing her chest.

The blonde felt Bo's body move even closer and a soft sigh made its way along her throat, escaping her parted lips. Lauren slid nearer to the heat radiating from the brunette. Settling herself in the shy embrace, leaning in deeper into what felt more and more like coming home.

She could feel the rapid heartbeat upon her spine of the actress pressed behind her. Hearing her own pump pounding hard and fast. Bo's right arm asked permission to slip under the blondes head, her right hand brushing along Lauren's shoulder, over her upper arm, to her hand. Fingers entwined, finding a place on the cool pillow.

The brunette placed a light touch from her lips through the sleeping shirt against Lauren's left shoulder blade. Both women cuddled themselves into a firmer and less shy position of new found comfort. Another shift of the mattress and another caress of a mouth upon the warm skin of the blonde's crack of her neck right underneath her ear. A shiver ran down the length of her back. Sending flashes of electricity through every pore of her body, right down to her center, more awake than ever before.

"You okay?"

The brunette's voice tenderly hushed over a reddened cheekbone hidden in the darkness of the night clouded room. The scent of her co-worker's perfume lingered in her every breath and forced her eyes to roll back inside her head, eyelids falling close. A last short intake of the intoxicating air surrounding her, Lauren nodded almost invisible until Bo settled back down, resting her head on the same pillow, sharing the small space.

Lauren's mind, seconds ago struggling to find the central theme, had now cleared a way through the jungle and everything started to make sense again. Sure about the next and only thing she wanted to do, as an undisclosed desire pumped inside her veins.

The grip on the brunette's hand becoming tighter as Lauren, more self-assured than she had ever felt before, guided them down slowly to the place where the hem of her shirt met with the blanket loosely placed upon her hipbone. Brushing the fabric aside, with fingertips still joined, a hitch filled the sound of shallow breaths and drumming heartbeats, when skin met skin.

Diving underneath the thin cotton, Lauren boldly forced Bo's hand to move back up again. Stroking across the toned muscles of her belly, over the outlines of her ribcage until unsure fingertips found the swelling of the soft flesh of the blonde's mounds. Moving along the roundness, Lauren led a slightly wet palm to rest upon her left breast. With a soft squeeze to reassure her co-worker breathing heavily into her golden tresses, she let go of the resting hand now placed on the spot she had wanted the brunette to touch for so long.

Searching her way back out of her shirt, Lauren slid down under the blanket once more to settle upon the trembling upper leg of the woman lying next to her. She gently brushed over the muscular thigh enjoying the feel of goosebumps becoming even more visible underneath her fingertips.

The blonde could feel Bo quiver under her touch and the brunette's whole body tensed up almost immediately. Turning her head slightly Lauren swallowed hard.

"You okay?"

Afraid she might have crossed a line, Lauren turned around more fully searching the beautiful face in front of her and came to a halt on the darkest brown she had ever seen in her co-worker's eyes.

"Bo?"

Holding her breath, Lauren waited for a reaction, a sign, a word, anything that would have told her she hadn't just made the biggest mistake of her whole life. Panic crept up her guts. Resignation made its way inside her belly superseding every jingle of excitement and joy.

She was just about to withdraw herself from the embrace, getting more and more torture like, when a pair of hot lips found her own. A sensitive brush, seasoning the tastes of each other. A feather light kiss as quickly ending as it had started, only to reveal a smiling brunette hovering over the blonde.

"I wasn't expecting that."

Lauren couldn't suppress a quiet chuckle, releasing the tight knot she had built up in her chest in an instant. Shifting, the blonde positioned herself underneath her co-worker, cupping her face with both of her hands to bring those waiting lips back down against her own.

Sinking in, she felt Bo melt into the kiss, growing more urgent with every passing second. Another move by the brunette on top. Slowly a thigh slipped in between Lauren's legs, pushing them apart to make room before Bo settled herself down again, pressing carefully against the blonde's hot center. Quiet moans escaped both women in-between kisses.

Lauren kept Bo's bottom lip between her teeth, dragging gently. Releasing the pink flesh, swollen by the received attention. The wet tip of Bo's tongue caressed Lauren's upper lip, waiting to continue the dance with an equally eager partner. The blonde's right hand, balled into a fist at the brunette's chest, clenching at the fabric of the night shirt, pulling Bo more firmly against herself.

Tongues met, explored each other, brushing along lips and jaws. Shared kisses, wandering over cheeks and throats, leaving wet spots along the way. The cold air in the room was blowing silently against the overheated skin, doing nothing to cool off the hot sensation of the moment.

Forcing a surprised gasp from her co-worker, Lauren rolled them over on the large mattress until she had the upper hand, lying between Bo's thighs. The blonde leaned over, kissing Bo's elegant neck down to her collarbone. Long legs wrapped themselves around Lauren's back, trapping her, holding her in place.

An unwilling frustration growled inside of Lauren and she stopped her journey of discovering the former ballerina further as her path was stopped by the cotton barrier. Looking down, she got up onto her knees, pulling the brunette up with her. Sitting on Lauren's lap, Bo put her arms around the blonde to steady herself. Searching for the hem of the brunette's shirt furious fingers slid under the fabric.

"This has to get off now."

A sparkle in her light brown eyes, a demanding tone in her voice, a rough pull on the cotton that kept them from full body contact.

The darkness of the room illuminated every now and then as the wind blowing more firmly against the floating curtain, which couldn't deny the bright shine of the moon to sneak past them for any longer.

Bo smiled brightly. A gentle touch stopped the almost angry hands, struggling to conquer the hidden secrets underneath. Lauren felt the grip of Bo's legs around her waist tighten as she watched the brunette take off the shirt in one slow and swift move, exposing a muscular stomach, toned arms and the most gorgeous breasts Lauren had ever laid eyes on.

A lingering gaze on the newly uncovered skin in front of her, Lauren licked her lips. Roaming along the bare flesh up to meet a pair of pinkish cheeks, lit up with an almost shy smile and two waiting, questioning, brown orbs.

Swallowing hard, the blonde watched as Bo's hands were gliding over the brunette's waist, following the way along her still shorts-clothed thighs, to hover above the blonde's stomach, scratching the thin fabric slightly, barely touching the heated flesh underneath.

"Can I help you with that?"

Lauren's head shot back up to observe the needy look upon her co-worker's face. Nodding slowly, Bo started to unclothe the blonde. Her fingertips ran over Lauren's side, feathery strokes along the soft skin underneath her ribcage. The blonde lifted her arms above her head, still watching the brunette's features intensely.

The cold air of the motel room hit her disrobed upper body like ice water. The result did show all over her. Goosebumps popped up and covered every inch of skin and the pink flesh of her breast, hardened from the waiting anticipation. Her long hair falling freely down upon her shoulders, tickling her back.

Looking at each other, both women were taking in the sight in front of them. Bo stroked the golden locks and bare arms, until she palmed the blonde's waist on either side.

"You can touch me, Lauren. I- I _want_ you to touch me."

A pleading whisper got through to Lauren's lust-fogged head. Reaching out, she found her co-worker's longing body shivering under her fingertips. Muscles twitched and a sharp intake of breath met the sound of short fingernails brushing along naked skin. The air was glistering with electricity, when eager hands explored every inch of exposed flesh before they stopped on either side of the tender swellings of an eagerheavingchest.

Lauren gently gave Bo a push as a signal to lie back down. Holding herself up on her arms placed at the brunette's head, Lauren let herself sink down on top of her co-worker. Breaths gasping, voices groaning when the woman positioned herself fully along the length of the naked brunette.

Starting slowly, Lauren placed soft kisses all over Bo's collarbone, throat and cheeks until their mouths joined once again. Gripping blonde hair, tangling wildly all around with one hand, Bo slid underneath the waistband of the blonde's shorts, massaging the roundness she found there, just waiting for her hand to embrace it completely.

They stayed like this for, what felt like hours. Touching, exploring, kissing. Lauren's senses were on overdrive surrounded by everything Bo. Her thigh pressed itself hard against the brunette's core. Rubbing her own heated center along her co-worker's upper leg. Moaning into each other's mouths, they moved in perfect sync.

"Oh God..."

Lauren's hoarse cry led Bo on to taking over control again. Rolling on top, she left open-mouth kisses all over the blonde's chest until hot lips closed around the waiting tips of her breasts. Hand's fighting with the remaining clothes. Bo stood up with a jump, forcing a surprised gasp from Lauren. Reaching for the waistband of her own shorts, she let them fall to the floor. The blonde was laying in the bed, leaning back on her elbows, watching the brunette.

Crawling back on the bed on all fours, Bo maintained eye contact while she helped Lauren out of the last piece that separated the two of them, to join as one completely.

Kissing her way up, the brunette's hot tongue trailed wet lines along the insides of Lauren thighs. Lauren's head fell back, her mouth left open to reveal a throaty sound. Feeling her co-worker's lips traveling up her belly to first her right then left breast, sucking tenderly Lauren cupped Bo's cheeks to crash their lips together again in a passionate dance. Rolling over the king size bed, both women fighting for dominance, but found themselves back in the same position with Bo on top.

Legs entangled, until a light push told Lauren to give her co-worker more space. Spreading them even more when the brunette's wandering hand found the wetness it was searching for. Stroking along the length, Lauren couldn't suppress her puffed growling any longer. Feeling her co-worker filling her up made her scream in pleasure. The blonde was losing herself in the rhythm Bo created. The sensation of hot kisses on her skin combined with eager thrusts of the woman hovering above her left nothing but crumbled thoughts and blurred pictures inside the blonde's head.

A perfect mixture of fingers gliding in and out of her soaking core and circling over the screaming bundle of nerves, Lauren was close to surrender, to the tension building up from deep inside. The sweet scent of Bo filling her nostrils, the salty taste of sweaty skin all over her lips and tongue. Emotions running wild, surrounding her, entering her mind and spreading all through her body.

"You are so beautiful."

Bo's breathless voice next to her ear was the last puzzle piece she needed to let go. Digging her short fingernails in the muscular flesh of her co-worker's back, Lauren threw her head back, pressing deep into the pillow. Waves of pleasure were sailing through her whole body heaving her chest up from the mattress. Flames were burning inside her guts, climbing up her torso. Releasing Bo's name in the breath she wasn't aware she was holding until the last push from the brunette brought her over the edge.

Eyelids fluttered shut, when the short twitching of muscles slowly faded away. The satisfaction roaming through Lauren's body wasn't like anything she had ever felt before.

A shiver ran down her sweat-covered skin when she felt the warm nakedness of the ballerina shifting next to her, pressing against her right side. A gentle hand caressed her left cheekbone and brow. Turning her head slowly, Lauren opened her eyes again.

"Hey."

A lazy smile formed on the blonde lips, by the sight of the brunette next to her, seemingly nervous.

"Hey."

Lauren's voice still husky.

"You okay?"

Bo's questioning gaze was searching the blonde's face. The concern wasn't unheard in those words spoken softly. Lauren leaned forward and placed a lingering kiss upon the brunette's lips before she heaved her still recovering body to place herself on top of the woman next to her.

"I'm fine, Bo. That was... words are failing me right now. That good!"

Smiling proudly, Bo kissed the blonde's lips once again.

"Good. I was aiming for nothing less."

Brushing strands of golden locks behind Lauren's ear, Bo looked into the light brown orbs.

"I wasn't your first."

It wasn't a question but a statement. Lauren smiled.

"Was it that obvious?"

Bo mirrored the blonde's expression and nodded.

"Yes."

"Well, you're right."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Lauren shrugged. She hadn't thought about Jane for a long time. They had had a short affair when Lauren started her stage career. Jane had been her make-up artist. She was a lot older than Lauren and very experienced. It hadn't lasted long as Jane moved on to the next newly born star on the same stage.

"It wasn't important and it still isn't. But..."

Looking back at her co-worker, Lauren leaned down. Inches apart she whispered her hot breath upon Bo's still wet lips.

"Now, Miss Dennis, it's my turn."

* * *

 **So? What do you think? Posting this makes me really nervous...**


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